CALVARY-VIRGINIA TEAGEDIES BY LAUGIITON OSBOEN NEW YORK DOOLADY: BROOME-STREET 31 DCCC LXVII Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by LAUGHTON OSBORN in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of Now York. JOHN F. TROW & Co., Printers and Stcrcotypers. By an error of the pressvvork, the list of " Characters " in Calvary is put upon the back of the " Notice," instead of facing the first page of the Tragedy . The Publisher greatly regrets this blemish of an otherwise admi- rably printed work ; but the book was nearly through the hands of the binder before it was discovered . The error will be easily rectified in a subsequent edition. 203, NOTICE TUB two pieces here presented are the first of a series of nineteeu, which, with the exception of two, are now completed and ready for the press ; namely : Calvary; Virginia; Hianca Capello ; UgodaJSste; Uberto ; The Last Mandeville ; Matilda of Denmark ; Meleager ; Palamedes ; CEnone ; PyrrJius, Son of Achilles ; Don Sancho Ortiz. Tragedies. The Silver Head; The Double Deceit, ; The Montanini ; The Mag- netizer ; The Prodigal ; The Double-dealer ; The Dead Alive. Come- dies. The next to be published will be Tlie Silver Head and The Double Deceit : Comedies. CHAKACTEP.S Primary JESUS OF NAZARETH. ' > Archangels. RAPHAEL, MICHAEL CAIAPHAS, High-Priest. PONTIUS PILATUS, Procurator ofjudea. NIOODEMUS, JOSEPH OF JUDAS ISCARIOT. > Of the Sanhedrim. JOSEPH OF ABIMATHEA, ) v LUCIFEE. BEELZEBUB. MAEY, Mother of Jesus. MARY MAGDALENE. MARTHA. CHORUS OF ANGELS. CHORUS OF EVIL SPIEITS. Secondary A CENTUBION. A SCRIBE. SIMON PETER. ) Three WITNESSES. JOHN, I 1*** 1 * fjesus ' Certain of the PEOPLE. AN ELDER. A SUB-CENTUEION. MALCHUS, Servant of the High- Priest. Mute Persons JAMES, Disciple of Jeaus. Members of the Sanhedrim. Officers in attendance. Soldiers of the Guard. Lictors. Servants. People. CALVARY MDCCCLXIV OALYAEY ACT THE FIRST Scene I. Heaven. RAPHAEL. MICHAEL. CHORUS OF ANGELS. Raph. Deep gloom is over Heaven ; the Seraphim Have veil'd their glowing eyes. Their song of praise, that wont to rise In gratitude and joy of heart to Him, In sorrow now and awful reverence dies. Mich. The ever-burning lights around the Throne, No longer whirling their concentric fireSj Grow lix'd and languid-pale : The flame within, till now that changeless shone, Whose blaze not even we could gaze upon, And none approach, no more the vault aspires, But sinking seems to fail. Raph. And hark ! that voice of more than wail, 1 CALVABY. That breathes responsive to the plaintive tone Struck from the golden wires. CHORUS. The hour of Earth is approaching, That solemn predestinate time, When the thankless children of Jacob Complete their long record of crime ; When the Lord, who from Heaven descended Adam's forfeit of sin to assume, His mournful humanity ended, Shall be laid in a human tomb. O sorrow of sorrows exceeding, That our eyes should be destin'd to see The Son of the Highest stretch'd bleeding In pain on the infamous tree ! Though the tears, the long anguish are healing, Though those blood-drops anoint for the skies, Yet can we behold without feeling His wounds, hear unecho'd his sighs ? Would, would we might not hear, not see them, That our hearts were not conscious before Of those death-throes, or conscious might flee them, Till the night of this anguish were o'er ! Till, the shadows of death away driven, And the pathway of Earth no more trod, The Lord should ascend his own Heaven, And sit at the right hand of God. ACT I. SC. 1. i. But for the gloom of night, The effulgence of their day-star when arisen "Would waken in Earth's children no delight. When from the tomb's black prison The Lord in his own nature mounts the skies, The consciousness of that dread sacrifice "Will make his glory to our tearful eyes And swelling hearts more bright. Mich. But oh the interval ! to see that sight, When on the cross the Lord of Heaven dies. CIIOEUS receding. Though the tears, the long anguish are healing, Though those blood-drops anoint for the skies, Yet can we behold without feeling His wounds, hear unecho'd his sighs ? Would, would we might not hear, not see them, That our hearts were. not conscious before Of those death-throes, or conscious might flee them, Till the night of this anguish were o'er ! Till, the shadows of death away driven, And the pathway of Earth no more trod, The Lord should ascend his own Heaven, And sit at the right hand of God. CALVARY. SCENE II. Before the Procurators Palace, at Jerusalem. PONTLUS. CAIAPHAS. Pont. I see it not. Is your religion true, Be this man's doctrine false it mars it not, If right it aids it. 'Tis your bigot creed. We Gentiles have a faith more mild and broad : It persecutes not, and admits all gods. Caia. Because your gods are creatures of the brain. Ours is the dread I AIT, that was and is, And ever shall be, sole and sempiterne, As was reveal'd in thunder from the cloud, 'Mid lightnings, when the mountain shook and smok'd, Where Moses stood on Sinai. Pont. Thou hast heard, Our Sabine Nurna had his nymph as well, That taught him without thunder. 'Tis one thing, Priestcraft and statecraft join'd, to bind an age That was not docile and had scouted Truth In her grand nakedness. I blame it not, Albeit your great law-maker should have feign'd The Godhead mightier than to tire so soon And need a Sabbath. N\>, the gods of Kome Are not vain fictions ; they but shape us out The attributes divine, and we who kneel Do homage to these separate, you in mass. This Jesus teaches what the wise and good Have taught in every creed and from all time. ACT I. SC. 2. O He would in Kome be revercnc'd if a sage, If a mere sophist laugh'd at and let go As harmless. Gala. And a breaker of the laws ! Pont. lie bids the people everywhere obey them. Caia. [with irritation.'] He is a vile impostor, and pretends To work out miracles and heal by touch And word diseases. Pont. Eather say, he does. There is a brave centurion, now within, Wouldst thou inquire ? will tell thee on that point. By Hercules! he paints me snch a scene That I myself might find it in my heart To tremble and believe. Caia. For the belief, Even as thou wilt ; but think whereon thou stand'st, And tremble, noble Pontius, with a fear That were more politic and less devout. Thou hast heard, thou hast seen indeed, and knowest as well, What an unruly and seditious race Our people are, still hankering for their kings, And easily led by all who promise such. "Witness the robber Ezekias' son, And Simon, who was simply the king's slave, And the obscure Athronges and his brothers. Did not this last achieve, and for a time Actually wield, the power of a king, And do great damage to the Roman troops ? Pont, But that was when nor king nor ethnarch reign'd. CALVARY. And with what promptness Varus put him down! Caia. Because it was tumultuous revolt And had too many head*. But here is one, Who works by moral power, and slowly moves, But surely, onward to a greater aim With loftier pretensions. Need I warn thee We are a haughty people, restive ever Under a foreign yoke ? Pont. By Castor, no ! But I shall make it heavier on their necks, If the team struggle. 'T is not very long Since the hid daggers of my faithful men Made mute their bellow. 1 Caia. Please thee, hear awhile. This is no rude pretender, no arm'd brawler, But a most cunning man, of gentle manners And of seducing eloquence, who claims Descent by David from our line of kings, And to be that Messiah under whom We are to have our laws again and triumph Over all onr foes. Pont. If that be over Kome, Your land must grow, and every Jewish captain Be multiplied a thousand fold. Caia. Of yore We counted not the number when Jehovah Commanded to the fight. If this false prophet Persuade the people he is their rightful prince, How long think'st thou they'd hesitate to strive, God-driven, as they 'd deem it, to break down ACT I. SC. 2. All obstacles that bar him from the throne ? Hast thou forgot the self-call'd Alexander, Who claim'cl to be the son of Herod king ? Flock'd the Jews round him when he came to Rome, And bore him on a litter through the streets, Deck'd as beseems a king, there, even there, In your imperial city. Pont. "Where his robes Fell from him and the litter bore no more, And shame succeeded to the popular joy. Caia. But after plague to Csosar. As a friend To thy great master, thou should'st clear his path From every pebble that may make it rough : And this is one. Pont. To pieces break it then : Crush it, and rid me of the dust. But, sooth, Deem'st thou this Jesus dangerous ? Caia. In sooth, I know not, care not. This alone I know, The people must be quiet, and one man May well be made a sacrifice for more. Pont. True policy, for ruler as for priest. Do as thou wilt ; but when thou hast done all Whence is the victim ? Caia. Where born, meanest thou ? He is a Galilean. Pont. Send him then To Antipas for sentence ; that the blood Of his seditious subjects, shed by me, May no more be betwixt us. 2 So, farewell. CALVARY. SCENE III. A room in the dwelling of Jesus' 1 Mother. JESUS. MARY. Mary. And canst thou speak with calmness, when my heart Is aching for tliee? Jesus, O my son ! Think on thy mother, and avoid the storm That now is darkening o'er thee, and whose shadow Makes my blood curdle with the chill of death. For my sake, O my darling ! Jesus. Shall the palm Say to the fruit that leaves the parent stem, Think on thy mother? When its time is come, It drops from over-ripeness, and the tree Knows it no more. Deem'st thou the Son of Man Can flee the hour appointed from all time ? He who is busy with my Father's work Must not be laggard, and not heed the rain, Nor howling wind, nor thunder. Mary. Still thou speakest As if thou aye wert toiling at the work Thou dost no more and hast not done for years. Who is thy father, who thy brethren, son? Jesus. My Father is the Word that sent me hither, My brethren are the Children of the Word. Let me be gone : behold, the night is deepening, The hour is nigh when I must watch and pray. Pray thou too ; for the cup that I shall drink Will leave its dregs for theo. ACT I. SC. 3. . 9 Mary. Give me it all, Or let me share it with thee ! Jesus. Thou ? my cup ? The ringdove pray'd the eagle, Let me soar Unto the clouds with thee and share thy nest. Poor timid wood-bird, yet her tender eyes Could not endure the sun, nor her soft wings Sustain her to his eyrie. What I am Thou canst not be, O woman, nor canst follow Whither I go. But watch thou here, and pray, As I shall do where T must watch and wrestle. And may that bosom, where I once was laid Quiet and happy, be more calm than mine. Mary. Stay yet a little. By that happy time Thou hast thyself remember'd, when these breasts That now are wither'd fed thee from my blood, I do adjure thee! Thou hast call'd me Mother With that sweet voice, although again the tone That is so stern and lofty, when thou speakest Those riddles that I dare not try to solve, Has aw'd and check'd me, thou hast call'd me Mother. I am thy mother, Jesus, and my heart Warms to thee now as when I first beheld thee After my weary travail ; see me now Embrace thy feet, and pray thee as my god, For my sake, for thy own ! Jesus. What is it, mother ? Thy prayer is broken by sobs. So let me lift thee. Thy tears are on my hands. This should not be. Were I a soldier, and the trump of war 1* 10 CALVARY. Summoned to instant fight, thou vvouldst not strive, Even though thy heart were breaking, to detain me. Why shouldst tliou then when now my Father's voice Calls me to combat demons and to wrestle In spirit with that weakness of the flesh Which I must share with all of women born ? To-morrow thou wilt see me once again ; But where, O mother ! Enter MAKTHA. Martha, is it thou ? What brings thee to Jerusalem ? Art thou come To give me warning as my mother does, And strive to shake my purpose ? Martha. Not so, Lord. Who can do that ? But neither, when we pray, Do we pretend to arrest or modify The will of the Almighty. Yet the sentry, Who but obeys, and has no voice in counsel, Gives warning of new danger to his chief. Jesus. Thou hast spoken, Martha, loyally and well. But, in that faith and wisdom, seest thou not That I should need no warning ? Even now The heart that shall betray me is convuls'd With its distracting passions, and the hand Is itching for the silver that shall buy My body for the cross. It is decreed. Mary. Mean'st thou this fully ? Canst thou still so calmly Speak what to credit is My son ! my son ! Kneel with me, Martha ! He has love for thee. ACT I. SC. 3. 11 Tell him he kills me ! Tell him ! Jesus, son! Have mercy on me ! Save thyself and me ! Jesus. Thou hearest, Father! Strengthen this weak heart! Marth. Lord, thou hast fled before, when danger dogg'd thee. Now, that the hounds are near to lap thy blood, "Why shouldst thou stand at bay ? Jesus. At bay I do not. I am no deer before the hunters, Martha, I am the Lamb of Sacrifice. Before, The altar was not deck'd, the hour not come. Stay with my mother, Martha, and console her. Stay, and pray with her. "Wait what ye shall hear. Simon and James and John are coming for me : Their footsteps sound already nigh the door. The blessing of my Father be upon you. Mother, and sister before God, farewell ! 12 CALVARY. ACT THE SECOND Scene I. Hell LUCIFER. BEELZEBUB. CHOECS OF EVIL SPIRITS. Onward strides the time, When the Prince of Heaven, For whose sake down-driven From the heights sublime Hitherward we fell, Shall with human anguish, Wo divine as well, For a spell, Though the weight decrease not Of the bootless crime Crush'd by which we dwell Here in Hell, By his sharp partaking Lighter make the aching, Changeless which and fell Makes us groan and languish, Ever though we cease not To rebel. Flames that circle Hell, Lift your waves rejoicing, ACT II. SC. 1. 13 With your roar loud-voicing What we feel so well, O'er the wo of Heaven, Whence we fell. Lucif. Near-sighted as ill-fated, why rejoice? Saw ye as far as I do, your parch'd throats Would give emission to a direr voice, More like the wail above than that which floats Now on Hell's vapor, as your sooty wings, Confin'd by yon sheer walls and fire-flood moats, Scour painfully the region not your choice. I cannot sympathize with those vain cries. Beelz. Yet hope of vengeance prompts the note each sings In wo elate, Knowing the sorrow which decree:! by fate, This hoxir of Earth, man's crime on Heaven brings. Ere twice on that small planet which we hate The star that gilds its meanness shall arise, The Immortal, who forsook his envy'd state To bear a mortal's forfeit, dies. Lucif. Ay, for a race that are not worth the throes They cost their mothers, shall this son of God, Whom we refus'd to worship, bear the blows Of bestial human hands, the servile rod, And all the filth of contumely man Heaps in his hate, his envy, or disgust, On his own fellows, though not worse than he, Saving, as chance may will it, in degree, Since all are worthless as their Earth's own dust, 14 CALVARY. For these vile reptiles lie shall even die, T.o give them them ! our immortality ! So be it, if it must. But I shall thwart the planner and the plan. Seels. Even yet ? Lucif. Even yet I trust. This god, his godborn nature laid aside, Partook the woman's from whose bowels he sprung Into that meaner being. Hence have clung To his dimm'd soul her weaknesses, ally'd "With something of the godhead's fire and pride, Which flit its duller particles among Like meteors in Earth's darkness. Thus my power Already hath tbe changeling once defy'd. But now a better hour Approaches, and again the same temptation, With loftier aim and surer expectation, May make his past endurance idle pain, And we, who for his sake bear Heaven's chain, Shall Heaven deride. Beelz. Hark, ominous the song of exultation, Borne by the blast, floats lightly to our side ! CHORUS in the distance. Flames that circle Hell, Lift your waves rejoicing, With your roar loud-voicing What we feel so well, O'er the wo of Heaven, Whence we fell. ACT II. SC. 2. 15 SCENE II. The abode of Mary Magdalene. JtJDAS ISCAKIOT. MART MAGDALENE. Judas. The night is chilly. Hast thou not a coal To feed the brazier ? Not one drop of wine ? Ugh ! and the lamp looks dying. Where is gone The shekel that I gave thee yesternight ? Mcgd. Be not displeas'd, dear Judas. I bestow'd it But as the Master seem'd to say we ought : I cast it in the Treasury. Judas. Like that widow Whose paltry mites he made of more account Than all the rest, because they were her all. So thou must give thy all ! Of many fools Of Magdala, thou, Mary, art the best. Why not have gone at once to the perfumer's, Like thy Bethanian namesake, and anoint His yellow locks, or even smear his feet, As I have seen thee sweep them oftentimes With these long delicate hairs (I could defile them!) He would have thought still more of it. Magd. For shame ! Thou speakest of our Lord, the Christ, our King. Judas. I know not that : I know that I am weary Of waiting for his kingdom, which I thought Would make us rich at least, both thee and me. That starv'd look worries me : and oh, the chill Of this unwholesome lodging ! With that shekel Thou might'st have bought us fire and light and food. 16 CALVARY. Magd. Vex not thy soul for me ; I am content. That bit of coin has bought us better fare In the new kingdom, which is yet to come, And is not earthly. Judas. Who says that? who thinks it? None of us save you women. Name one else. Not the hot-headed James, not pale-ey'd John, Whom I left leaning on the Master's breast, (He favors him because of his fair face, As he does thee, but I despise the boy) None of these overzealous "sons of thunder," As thy Lord terms them, for a single day Would sail from town to town and Tribe to Tribe, Backwards and forwards, in his changing wake, But for this promis'd kingdom. If he be The true Messiah and our hop'd-for Prince, Why does he not ascend his throne in glory And make us lords and rich? Magd. Bethink thee, Judas, How he reprov'd Salome. Yet who else, If not his kinsfolk, might aspire so well To sit beside him, if that throne and glory Were of this earth. If then both James and John Judas. Accursed be he ! Look not so aghast. I have good cause of anger. In his ear The Master said what had respect to me ; For both look'd on me Magd. What was said? Why pause? Why art thou discomposed ? Judas. It is the lamp ACT II. SC. 2. 17 Deepens the shadow on my face, as thine. It will go out. Hast thou no oil to feed it ? Magd. ISTone. Mind it not. The moonlight through the lattice "Will he enough. Judas. No oil, no food, no fire ? And I have nothing or dare touch no more. What wonder I am discompos'd? Magd. But that Is not the cause. Thou wast at entering. Judas ! What was there said against thee at the feast ? Judas. How should I know ? The Master had pronounc'd That one of us did evil. All inquir'd, But only unto John was answer given, And that was whisper'd ; and John look'd at me. I shortly slipp'd away, and, in a word, Thou mayst imagine it, being put to shame Before them all. Magd. Believ'st thou, Judas dear, It was because of me He found thee evil ? Judas. No, as thou wast forgiven a greater sin, When the chaste rabble brought thee out to stone ; And now being husbandless Why dost thou weep ? Thou knowest I love thee, Mary, and should love, Hadst thou thy seven devils in thee still. This is so small an imp. thy care for me ! Magd. It is for that I weep, not that thou mock'sc me, For there is something bitter in thy smile That marks thee ill at ease. Judas. It is the cold. It is that sinking lamp which makes me grim. 18 CALVABY. 'T will leave us soon in darkness. Is it that Makes thee so pale ? When hast thou tasted food ? Magd. It is no matter ; I urn not Judas. Speak truly : When hast thou eaten ? Magd. Not since yester eve. Judas. When thou hadst money ! This must be no more. Thou shalt have food. And there ! the lamp is out ! And we are left in darkness with the devils. It suits my purpose. I am now resolv'd. Magd. Judas ! Where art thou ? Do not leave me thus ! What is thy purpose ? What hast thou resolv'd ? Oh Heaven! Thou art not gone yet. Answer me. Judas ! Judas. Thou shalt have more than food. Farewell. ACT III. SC. 1. 19 ACT THE THIRD SCENE I. The Palace of the High-Priest. The Chief-Priest, Elders and Scribes in Council. CAIAPHAS. UICODEMUS. JOSEPH or AEIMATHEA. AN ELDER. Caia. What you propound is just. The antique pomp Of our God-taught religion ; the deep awe That fell upon the people from the Ark And made our function heaven-like ; the respect Paid to you, Elders, and the potent voice Of you, the wise in law ; all these, the soul And ornate body of our form of state, "Will have their power, which knows not yet senescence, Palsy'd with premature decay, and soil'd With popular contempt their grand adornment, If this half-craz'd fanatic be allow'd To gather mobs and agitate reform. The life of our old polity at stake, Shall we stand timidly to face a scruple That, were the life of simple men involv'd, Would on the instant be o'erleap'd ? The law Of nature, and the law our fathers made, Taught by the God of Sinai, both demand The quenching of this firebrand, which has flar'd And threat en'd conflagration all too long. Nicod. Before we call for water, were 't not wise 20 CALVARY. To inquire if the brand be really such, Or if it burn not with innocuous fire, That gives out heat, but only then destroys When the winds rage against it ? Doth the law Our fathers made give anywhere the right To sentence even incendiaries unheard ? Caia. 'T is not a question of the law ; 't is not, I dare to assert it, even one of right : It is to inquire if we have in ourselves The power to save ourselves ; if this great court, Time-honor'd, and deserving in itself Of honor, has the manhood, life yet left, To pluck away with its own hands the thorn From out the festering body of the State, Or will permit tlie Koman intervene, Giving his sword new scope to lop a\vay What little of autonomy remains. Jos. Arim. No, were there such a danger. But this man Aims not to stir sedition. I am myself With eye and ear a witness, Jesus now Is but what all our prophets were of old, In days when we had prophets and they taught. And for his teaching shall we stone him now, As they ston'd prophets in the days of old ? Caia. Thou art thy.-elf, as Nicodetnus here, A favorer of the Nazarene. God grant Ye both become not something more. Nicod. What's that ? His followers ? If to love the right, to stand By the oppress'd, though men of Galilee, ACT III. SO. 1. 21 To welcome truth, good-sense and moral lore, Although Samaria taught them, and to own We never had more need of all than now, If this be following, then should I be proud To tread in Jesus' footsteps, and as much I think will he of Arimathea say. Elder. "What profits this dissension? And, in time, Lo, one is here who craves to be admitted On business of concern. Caia. Let him come in. Enter JUDAS ISOARIOT, conducted by an usher. Nicod. [to Jos. Arim.] What a vile look he wears ! I have seen, methinks, That face before, but surely not, as now, Troubled and full of mischief. Jos. Arim. 'T is the awe Inspired by our assemblage. On he comes, Abject, but throwing furtive looks around, Full of an evil -meaning. Surely too I have seen him elsewhere. 'T is one of the twelve That follow Jesus constantly. Nicod. Thus here, And with that look, his coming bodes no good Unto his Master. Jos. Arim. Hush ; they have made him stop. And now the high-priest waves his hand. Caia. Stand there. Fellow, who art thou? And what brings thee here? Judas. A matter of grave import to the State. 22 CALVARY. Caia. So we were told ; else hackt thou not got in. Speak out. Judas. I am a follower, or have been, Of Him of Galilee. Caia. A traitor, then. Nicod. [to Jos. Arim.] No doubt. Judas. I am not to the Sanhedrim, Nor yet to Eome. Caia. Thou art bold. Judas. I have need to be Who come on such a work. Caia. And that ? Judas. To give Into your power the Master. Caia. Jesus? Judas. Him. Caia. "What are thy motives? "What dost thou propose? Speak quickly ; and be brief. Judas. Despair, disgust, Resentment, want of money : there you have My motives, if I know them. You desire To arrest the Rabbi Jesus. Caia. "Without noise. Judas. I understand it so, and so propose. "What will ye give me if within the hour I make you masters of his body? Caia. How? Judas. By showing where he may be found alone, Or with his followers only. Caia. Thou shalt have ACT. III. S(J. 1. 23 Thirty full shekels. Judas. 'T is a niggard price. Nicod. For a vile object. Judas. Is the object vile, Why then employ me? Caia. Thou art not suborn'd. Know, thou irreverent fellow, that with thee The object may indeed be vile, and is ; For thou betrayest who trusteth thee, and makest Thy friend's sore damage turn to thy behoof. With us, who are the guardians of the State, And the ordain'd custodians of its laws, The act of using thee, whereby we save The State from jeopardy and check i' the midst The infraction of the law, is worthy praise. Tak'st thou the shekels? lendest thou thy aid? Speak. But be cautious in thy phrase. Judas. I had No thought to be irreverent. Forgive me. Why should it be accounted in me vile, That, seeing my error, and enamour'd still Of the fair faith our fathers taught, and tired Of vagabondage, fearing too the ills Which the free doctrine of the poor man's rights, Encourag'd in his envy of the rich And taught to deem himself preferred of Heaven, . Might cause in our sedition-loving race Caia. Tak'st thou the thirty shekels? Ay, or no? Judas. It is too little for so great a work. Caia. Then we arrest thee as confederate with 24 CALVAKY. The dangerous Galilean. Take thy choice, Betraying or betray'd. Judas. I have no choice : She whom I cherish wants for common hread. Caia. That concerns thee, not us. Tak'st thou the price ? Judas. I do. Nic,od. Thou abject wretch ! reserve thereof One gerah for a cord to hang thyself. Caia. Go wait without. But first respond to this: If, as is said, this Jesus is not mark'd By any special sign, and does not lead But mixes with his crew, how shall the band "We send to arrest him know him in the night ? Judas. By the devotion which surrounds him still "Whate'er his place in the midst of us; so that, As with all other leaders, there, that place, None other, is the head and centre-point. Besides, there is a something in his mien, A strange look in the eyes, profound and sad, Into whose depths though clear no eye can pierce, As in the Sea which God loves, 3 and whose gaze, When fix'd upon you, none can bear : nay, more, There is at times a singular light that plays Like moonshine o'er his visage Caia. Driveler, peace ! "We ask not for thy fancies. "Wilt thou tell us, So we will let thee, Moses on the Mount "Was nothing more transfigur'd? Give some sign That will not, like thy visage-moonlight, vanish ACT III. SO. 1. 25 Before our lanterns. Thou thyself shalt lead : How wilt thou mark him ? Judas. Is that needful? Gala. Ay. By what act wilt thou make thy Master known ? Judas. I rather would forego Caia. Thy money then, And he thyself arrested ? Take thy choice. Judas. Me miserable ! "Whom then I salute On meeting, with a kiss, that same is Jesus. Caia. Go wait without Nicod. Thou wilt not trust this wretch ? Caia. No, I will use him. Thou, and Joseph here, Alone I think of the whole Sanhedrim, As their approving nods and signs attest, "Would let the occasion by. Thou, wait without, And when the guard appear, do as thou sayest. 2 26 CALVARY. SCENE II. The Garden of GetTisemane. JESUS. SIMON PETER. Joiix. JAMES. Jesus. Tarry ye at the gate ; I must apart. My soul is very heavy, even to death. Can ye watch here a little while ? Peter. Yea, Lord, Until the morning, shouldst thou hide so long. Jesus. Simon, he not too sure. Peter. Why not sure, Lord ? Even James and John will watch. Shall I then tire? But rather let me go with thco apart : I have a sword wherewith to brave thy foes, Should any such affront thee, as thou hadest. Jesus. Thou didst mistake me, Peter. Master, thou didst say That two would be enough. Jesus. And truly said ; For what would it avail though all were arm'd ? Simon, the Devil would sift thee. Take thou heed ! Peter. I am as good grain, Master, as the rest. Let me go with thee, bear what thou shalt boar ; Though all men else desert thee, will not I. Jesus. Sayst thou? Verily, ere the cock shall crow, Thon, Simon Peter, Avilt deny me thrice. He leaves them and come* forward. ACT" III. SC. 2. 27 Poor sons of Adam ! in your own weak hearts Never more firm than when most prone to fall. And my weak heart, does not its human blood Flow with a troubled current ? In this dread hour, [kneeling.] When I need all my courage, O my God, Father in Heaven, let me not grow faint. Let the brave spirit which comes of Thee alone, And drew no nurture from my mother's milk, Aid me against the. torture whose mere thought Already is such anguish, and whose pangs Seem in that forethought still more hard to bear In that I might avoid them ; for Thou knowest, Thou, and Thou only, that these death-cold drops Are forc'd not from my forehead by coward fear, Fear of a suffering which, though long, shall end, But by the struggle between what I should do And what my mortal nature prompts me do, Between Thy bidding which commands me stay And my blood's frailty which would urge me flee. Oh it is fearful ! Help Thou, Father! God! This cup, which is so bitter, if thou canst, Take from me! ' But Thy will, not mine be done. After some minutes, Jesiis rises. Simon! But he is sleeping; and the rest. So brief a while, and yet not watch for me ! For me, for whom they were so prompt to die, And Simon most. 28 CALVARY. LUCIFER appears. Lucif. Who will be first to abjure thee. Thou Last thyself thus told him. Jesus. Who art thou ? I need not question. In the glowing eyes, The godlike port, and the strange light that floats, Visible spite the moonshine, on thy shoulders, I read thee all, without that mocking voice Which brings to mind the mountain where I bade thee, As I do now, Get thee hence, Satan ! Lucif. N"o, Not then as now. I offer'd power and glory, And set a price upon them. Then thy gaze Was made to cover at a single glance All of Earth's kingdoms. Now I bid thee see And hear but with man's senses. Look around. The moon is o'er the hill-top, and her light Floods the hush'd city and the mighty wall Which stood the Assyrian fire when all the rest, Temple and tower, went down, and David's throne With its weak kings, six hundred years ago. How peaceful ! and how still ! Thou mayst distinguish Sole of all sounds the bubbling of yon brook. But in a little while how all will change ! Even now I hear, as thou mayst wilt thou use The ears that are not earth-made, martial steps ; I see the gleam of torches, useless sure In the broad moonshine, and the uncertain gleam ACT III. SC. 2. 29 Of many spear-heads. 'T is the armed band That come to catch thee. Wilt thou wait them here ? Jesus. I will. Lucif. Hast thou bethought thee, God-born, then, Of what the end is ? Jesus. Satan, I have said, Go from before me. Thou didst fail with Job. Shall I do less than he ? Lucif. He was not tried As thou wilt be : I might not touch his life. Think'st thou the Roman will refuse to yield ? He will approve thee, but thou wilt be given To quench the blood-thirst of a frantic mob, That will outwatch the stars to see thee die, And grumble, if thou should be spar'd one pang. Jesus. Simon ! Awake ! Beloved John ! Lucif. The cold Hath numb'd them. And these wretched men as well, "Who follow thee, thou know'st, for what they hope Will be their gain on Earth, nor wait for Heaven, Their nets, thou didst assure them, should catch men Jesus. Peace, Devil! and avaunt! Lucif. The Christ will pardon. These to-be-sainted fishermen, as well, Will watch thy crucifixion, not indeed With the brute satisfaction of the mob, Nor in the hungry curiousness alone To mark how thou canst suffer and wilt die, Though haply some such craving, being men, 30 (Al.VAKY. Will mingle with their heart-ache ; but can they, Or can thy mother's anguish, wept she blood, Keep thy raw wounds from smarting, or assuage The thirst that burns like fire thy throat and lips? Jesus. Father! this cup! Let not the serpent's gall Add to its bitterness ! Lucif. Yet 't is honey-sweet Compar'd with that thou presently shalt drink. Hear'st thou not yet the footsteps ? In brief time, Their measur'd tramp will sound without the gate. One of thy zealots leads them. Son of God ! What though incarnate, wilt thou be arraign'd Like a vile robber and abide the law ? I hear thee sentenc'd. 'Mid a rabble rout, Who rain on thee dire curses and foul words, Who buffet thee and void their filthy rheum On thy resistless visage, thou 'rt push'd and dragg'd To the high place, where nail'd on either side A cut-throat suffers with thee. Thou art stripp'd. I see thy body bound to the cross'd planks. And now large spikes are driven through thy hands, And through thy feet. Thick in the w T intry air The blood flows slowly o'er thy pallid limbs And stiffens there. O weary, weary time ! When death, though still before thee, fails to strike Though pray'd for, and the fever in the veins Brings not unconsciousness. See., that head, Into whose bloody front the plaited thorns Press their sharp points, droops lower on the chest ACT III. SO. 2. 31 And spots it with the mingled sweat of death And tears of gore. And yet thou canst not die. Will not the sun go down ? Thy parch'd lips ope, And while thine eyes turn languidly to Heaven, Yet full of agony that is reproach, thy voice Calls feebly unto God who lets thee die. Jesus. Father ! have mercy ! Lucif. Ask it not of Him. Of me thou wilt obtain it. Jesus. Fiend! Of thee? Lucif. Son of the maiden Mary and of God, Ere thou wast man I did defy thy power, And scorn'd to worship thee. Since here on Earth, I promis'd all the kingdoms of the Earth, So thou wouldst worship me. If thou wilt flee And leave these ingrate fools, who know thee not, To their own ruin, I, I will kneel to thee, Here on this spot, avow thee as my lord, And ever more do reverence. Jesus. If thou wilt, Father, I would this cup might pass from me ! Yet not my will, but Thine be done. Lucif. So be it. Die in thy pride and folly ; and may the thought Heighten thy pangs, that, though thou bleed'st for man, Thou sav'st him not. He is my vassal still. Part we. I could admire, but that my wrongs Breed everlasting hate and keep us foes. LUCIFER disappears. 32 CALVAKY. Jesus. The agony is over. Angels 1 hands? Their fingers wipe my brow, their broad wings fan me, Their soft breath soothes me, and their silver tones With whisper'd words of solace and of love Eenew my courage. Am I then approv'd? O God! my Father! since it is Thy will, Let me drink boldly, though the draft is death. He moves' toward tlie sleepers. Simon, awake. The time is gone for rest. The hour approaches when the Son of Man Is given unto his foes ; and lo, at hand He that betrays me. [The disciples gather round Mm. Enter A land of SOLDIERS, MALCIIUS and others, JUDAS in advance, who presses hurriedly forward and kisses JESUS. Is it with a kiss Thou mak'st betrayal of the Son of Man ? Whom seek ye ? [to the Sand. Malch. Him of Nazareth. Jesus. 'T is I. Why fall ye back in doubt ? Again I ask : Whom seek ye ? Malch. We have said, the Nazarene. Jesus. I told ye, I am he. If I alone Be he ye come for, let these go their way. Malch. Seize him. Peter. Thou villain ! [wounds Malchus. ACT III. SC. 2. 33 Jesus. Simon, put thy sword Back to his place : all they that take the sword Shall perish by the sword. If I had need, Think'st thou that angels would not guard me now ? The cup my Father giveth shall I not drink ? Suffer thus far. [to Malchus, touching his wound. Have ye come out to me As to a rohber, with your swords and staves ? When I was daily with you in the temple, Ye stretch'd not out your hands to me ; but this Is now your hour, and darkness hath dominion. They lind JESUS, and lead him forth, the DISCIPLES fleeing, all but PETER, who follows at a distance. 2* 34 CALVARY. ACT THE FOURTH Scene I. As in Act //., Sc. 2. JUDAS ISCAEIOT. MABY MAGDALEXE. Judas. Here take the flint. I cannot force a spark : My hands are numb. Magd. Thy fingers are like death ! Yet thy brow drips with sweat ! Is that from cold ? Judas. Yes ; hasten. Magd. How thy voice shakes ! Judas. Mind it not. The light ; quick, quick ! the fire. It is so dark Is the door barr'd ? and cold ! I had such toil To get these things at this late hour Ah, so ! The faggots now. Canst thou put in the oil ? And that is why my brow drips and I tremble ; I had to run so fast from shop to shop, Finding all closed but one. Magd. Yet thou art cold. Thy running should have warm'd thee. Judas. And it would. But then the thought of thee Madg. Why look'st thou round ? Judas. Heard'st thou then nothing ? Magd. Nothing. This is fear. How pale thou lookVt ! ACT IV. SC. 1. 35 Judas. It is the flickering flame. The brands will soon cease smoking, and my face "Will not look haggard. 'T is the thought of thee, Thy hunger that distress'd me, made me cold. Break the bread, Mary. Magd. I did not say haggard. Yet haggard 't is and pale. 'T is not the fire That flickers, for the lamp is burning clear. What is it ails thee ? Judas. Give me of the wine. And drink thyself, and ent. Eat, Mary dear. Now I am warmer. Magd. Whence hadst thou these things ? Judas. What matters it ? Thou art starving. Eat, I say ; And here, drink off that wine. Magd. I will not drink, Nor eat, till thou hast told me whence this comes. Thou hast not God of Heaven ! on thy hand Is blood ! Judas. A spot. A splinter in the wood. Seest thou ? there is the scratch. Magd. Thou couldst not Judas. What? Dost thou suspect me ? Magd. Thou hast done no murder? Judas. Oh no ! Oh no, no, no ! not yet. Magd. Not yet ? And said so gloomily. Thou hast not robb'd ? Judas. I would I had ! 36 CALVARY. Magd. Thou wouldst tbou had ? And tears ? [removing one of his liands, with both which he has covered his face. Judas, where gott'st thou money ? Till thou tell'st me, I will not eat that bread, nor drink that wine. Judas. The bread and wine are what remained to day After the feast. The master of the house Bestow'd them on me. Magd. Did he give thee too The oil and faggots ? Thou didst let me think Thou gott'st them at a shop, the sole one open. Where didst thou get the money ? Judas. Fill my cup. And drink thou too, and eat. Magd. I will not eat Till thou hast told m'e if the bread be honest. Fill* thou, thyself; I cannot pour that wine. Nor shouldst thou drink it, if I could prevail. Thou tremblest, and thy eyes are dropping tear^. Judas. It is the smoke. I tremble with a fear Why dost thou doubt me, Mary ? with a fear Some evil is betiding. Heard'st thou aught While I was absent? Sawest thou no sign? Magd. What dost thou mean ? What sign, what sound ? To whom Should evil be betiding ? Is 't to John ? Judas. To all of us. How know I ? It will happen When least we think it. As the Master said : ACT IV. SC. 1. 37 Offences needs must come ; but wo to him Through whom Judas. More wine ! Magd. Thou shalt not drink again : Thou art already wild. Judas. Ah, wo indeed ! Magd. Oh what a sigh was that ! Hast thou done anght ? Judas ! thou know'st I love thee. On my knees I do adjure thee, by that sinful love For which I live in daily terror and grief That make all joy forgotten, tell me, tell, What is it weighs upon thy soul this night ? What hast thou done ? Where didst thou get the rne^ns, For me unhappy, for my most wretched sake, To buy this oil, and wine, and bread, and wood ? Judas. Eat, let me see thee eat. Heard'st thou not aught ? Saw'st thou not aught this night ? Eat, do but eat ! Or thou wilt drive me desperate. 'T was for that, To ease thy hunger Saw'st thou naught to night ? Naught from thy lattice, Mary ? It o'erlooks Magd. Why dost thou pause ? O'erlooks Judas. Eat, do but eat ! Magd. [springing to her feet. Ah ! I remember now. It cannot be Thou canst not be so wicked Oh my God ! Let me not hear him say it, let me die Not knowing of such treason ! Judas. Treason? What? What should I do with treason ? And to whom ? Magd. Look in my eyes. Thou spak'st this very night 38 CALVARY. Bitterly of the Master, and a purpose What money hast thou ? Judas. Here are seven pieces. But take them not to the Women's Court again. Magd. Where didst thou get them ? Judas. Say I borrow'd, begg'd : What matters it ? Eat, drink. Was that a noise ? Magd. I heard none. 'T is the moaning wind perhaps. Judas. It sounded like a sigh. Magd. It was thy own. Twice hast thou heav'd one, from thy inmost breast. Something weighs heavy there and would have vent. It makes thee restless, gloomy, fearful, wild. Am I a child, that I should see all this And not conjecture? have I grown so old As to forget already what, not hunger, Made thy stay long to me ? Whence came that coin ? I will not touch it till I know fully whence. What didst thou mean by signs and sounds ? What ill Is there betiding ? Judas. There was in the street A rumor, that the Master Heard'st thou naught ? I thought that, being so near the wall Magd. Why pause ? 'T is not to tir the brands. Thou hid'st thy face. The Master ? And that whisper'd word to John ? What hast thou done ? Thou hast not There were shouts, Lights through the trees, and armed men I thought, In the vale from the Mount of Olives. Judas ! man ! ACT IV. SC. 1. 39 Thou didst not lead them ? Thou didst not betray Speak, if thou wouldst not kill me. Only sobs ? And for this money? Judas. Woman, it was thou Thy suffering drove me. Magd. Thou hast done it, then ? Oh, I had hopes But say not 't was for me! My hunger could not make thee wicked wicked ? Oh, wicked unspeakably ! A wretch like thee Never yet liv'd, and is not fit to live. Judas. Sayst thou ? This my guerdon ? Thou art right ; I am not fit to live. I go. But thou, For whose sake I have sinn'd thus, take this coin All but one piece. Eat, live, be happy. There : It is my life's worth. Magd. 'T is the price of blood. I will not touch it ; nor the bread, nor wine. This fire shall not burn here, this lamp shall out. There. In a moment, when thess embers die, I shall again be in the dark, and cold, But with a pang that will not let me feel Hunger or thirst. I would, ere thou hadst come, I had been colder, in a darker place, "Where is no hunger. Judas. Would I now were there ! Mary, I go. Give me that wine once more. Magd. Thou shalt not taste one drop. It is the blood Of thy good Master. Thou hast over-drunk, Even were it honest wine. Where dost tliou go to? Judas. Farewell forever! 40 CALVAKY. Magd. Judas ! Stay. Thy face I see but dimly ; but thy voice, thy step There is something makes me shudder. Let me hold tliee ; Be not so violent. Whither dost thou go? Judas. To atone my guilt, to make redress, if 't may be. Magd. And save our Lord? Oh ! do but that, but that Do but that, dost thou hear me ? and come back, I'll love thee as I never lov'd before. But t;ike the money with thee, what is left. Promise the rest to-morrow, as thou mayst ; "We'll find it somewhere. Why so mute ? Wrench not Thy arm so rudely from me. Thou 'rt not wroth ? Judas. O no, no, no ! not wroth. Magd. Thou hast no cause. Hasten ! But, if thou fail to amend thy faiilt, Come never more again ! Judas. Ay, never more ! ACT IV. SO. 2. SCENE II. As in Act III., Se. 1. Tlie Sanhedrim assembled. JESUS before them. CAIAPHAS. NICODEMUS. JOSEPH OF AEIMATIIEA. On one aide, three Witnesses. On the other, MALOHTJS. Soldiers of the Guard, Officers of the Court, &c. Caia. Answer to what we ask thce. What art thou ? "Whence is thy mission ? Is it true what men Allege of thee ? Nicod. "With deference be it said, "We have no right to make him plead, himself, To show what he is not, or what he is. If he be chargeable with grave ofience, As I dare doubt, let the man stand arraign'd Until wo prove it. Caia. Thou dost strain the law In his behoof. Unwisely ; for our course Gives him in mercy privilege to plead From his own consciousness, advancing all May best avail him and withholding aught That cunning would conceal. Art thou still mute ? Jesus. Say I should answer you, will ye believe ? Or should I question, will ye make reply ? "What I have said was said unto the world. 42 CALVAKY. In synagogue and temple, there, where Jews From all parts gather, was my doctrine taught, At all times, openly, in secret not. Why ask ye then of me ? Ask them who heard me. Lo, they will know to tell you what I taught. Malch. [striking him. What ! to the High-Priest muk'st them answer thus? Jesus. Have I spoke evil, witness to that evil. If I said what was well, why smit'st thou me ? Nicod. Is this an outrage to be tamely borne ? Are we a court? or shall the Sanhedrim Allow the robe of justice to be soil'd By ruffian servitors? The culprit's tone Was nothing bolder than becomes a man, A man so question'd ; if to be reprov'd, .Censure should come of us, not in the form Of scoundrel violence. Caia. Malchus, leave the hall. Thy superserviceable zeal, albeit Kightly inspir'd, revolts tlie prophet's friends. Bring the first witness. What hast thou to urge ? 1st Witn. This fellow call'd himself the Son of God. Nicod. Passing thy insolent levity, unto us Much more dishonoring than to him, the arraign'd, Heard'st thou this said thyself? And when? And where ? But we assume the fact. The Sanhedrim Need not be told it is written, u I have said Ye are gods, and children of the Highest, all." ACT IV. SC. 2. 43 Could this apply to many, surely one Who doth, or claims to do, the righteous works Enjoin'd by Him who is Father of all men, May speak as is reported, nor blaspheme. Jos. Arim. I am a witness as to the intent And meaning of those words. 'T was in the porch Of Solomon, when the people took up stones To slay him for the imputed crime here urg'd, That he disprov'd it, citing the same phrase Which Nicodemus hath. Caia. But was this all ? What hast thou else to charge ? % 1st Witn. We took up stones Because he claimed that he and God are one. Jos. Arim. Further misapprehension. Heard I not How he said elsewhere, when one call'd him good, " There is none good but one, and that is God ?" My testimony weighs at least as much As this coarse fellow's. Caia. But may be more bias'd. Nicod. Ever, I trust, toward truth and common right. Caia. That is a matter of opinion now, But will be soon of judgment. Honest man, Hast thou more evidence ? 1st Witn. This Jesus said, Once in Capernaum, that his flesh was bread, That he would give us of this bread to eat, And that it came from Heaven. Whereat, not few Of his own followers left him. Nicod. What is that, 44 CALVARY. Even if 't be true ? Most palpably the sense Is moral. Taken at the letter's worth, It were a madman's utterance, and could claim Nowise consideration on our part. Caia. Save to corroborate the facts adduc'd. Call the next witness. "What hast thou to state, Of thy own knowledge ? 2d Witn. That this Jesus claim'd To have been before our father Abraham was. For which we would have ston'd him, but he fled. And, at another time again, declar'd : "Destroy the Temple, and in three days' time I will rebuild the same." Nicod. Assertions both Whose quality rests on the mode of speech Habitual with the assertor, known to all To talk in figures. Give a literal sense, He is a god, or lunatic and fool. We cannot touch him, if he be a god ; If mad, or void of sense, we have no right. Jos. Arim. Justly remark'd. The temple meant his body. This I have heard his near disciple say. He inculcates, it is known, a future life. Caia. You as his friends, if not his followers, both, Should help the god exemplify his lesson In his own flesh, as soon may be. For lo, A witness more unanswerable. Speak ! Zd Witn. The accus'd, with his disciples, gathered corn Upon the Sabbath-day, and, censur'd, said, David had more profan'd it, and the priests ACT IV. SC. II. 45 That serve the Temple do it without blame ; Adding, " Here is a greater than the Temple," Meaning himself, "for he, the Son of Man Is master even of the Sabbath-day." Elder. Horrid impiety ! Scribe. Pretention blasphemous 1 Nicod. That is as it was said ; the tone is all. For what was said is borue out by the law And record. Caia. By the law ? "Wilt thou maintain The law has made him master of the law ? Or find'st thou, thou, this ape of prophets gone A greater than the Temple? Nicod. I find nought Before me, in that unresisting form, But a good man most shamefully betray'd, Whose zeal may be excessive, but whose claims To greatness, as imputed, are belied By .his own conduct. Caia. Dost thou know it all ? Lurks there no craft beneath an artless mein ? Is meekness never made the facile mask To an ambitious spirit ? Speak once more, And tell the Council, man, what thon hast seen, What know of this aspirant such he is, Humble though he stands here to David's throne. Nicod. The question guides and prompts to a reply. Caia. Mind not the Elder. Speak ; thou shalt be heard. 3d Witn. One day he rode in triumph, and the crowd, Like madmen, spread their garments in his path, 46 CALVAKY. And shouted Nicod. Where was this ? 3d Witn. Upon the way From Bethphage to the city. Nicod. Thou wast there ? 3d Witn. I was. They shouted : " Blessed be the king That cometh in the Lord's name ! Peace on earth And glory in the highest." When rebuk'd, As some there bade Lim chide them I was one, This Jesus answer'd : " Should these hold their peace, The very stones beneath us would cry out." Elder. 'T is a clear case. Scribe. So think we all. Nicod. Why then, When, at another time, the rabble strove To make him king by force this can be prov'd, Wljy did he flee? 'T was nigh Tiberias, Over the Sea. He fled, and hid himself. Caia. The people then did seek to make him king ? So much is prov'd. Nicod. But not that 't was his fault. Caia. Proceed, [to Witn. 3d Witn. He assur'dthe Twelve that make his train, That, when he came to glory, they should sit, Themselves, upon twelve thrones and judge the Tribes. Caia. What more is needed ? Elder. Let him be condemn'd. Nicod. Upon this evidence ? The very words Us'd by the witness mark the innocent sense Of the accus'd, supposing he thus spake. ACT IV. SC. 2. 47 His glory is not of this world ; the thrones Are seats in Heaven. Jos. Arim. Else, let the witness say, Who has learn'd so much, why, as is known to all The twelve he calls the train, the Nazarene Kefus'd the sons of Zebedee their choice, "When, in their ignorance of this mystic sense Which Nicodemus hath so well divin'd, Their mother pray'd him that the two might sit On either hand of him in that new realm. What was his answer ? 'T was not his to give, But theirs for whom his Father had prepared it. Caia. Atrocious blasphemy ! Nicod. Be it, if thou please. But, if not so designed Caia. Ye Scribes and Elders, Priests who with me look on the law of God As violated in the lightest act Of all ascrib'd to this mad Nazarene, Why need we sit here longer ? Is 't your will, As mine, to pluck this irritating thorn Instantly from the body of the State, That it mtiy rest, and we put off the dread Of being endanger'd with our conquerors worse, Ye will not give to Nicodemus hero And Joseph, who is, like him, sway'd at least By predilection for the dangerous ways Of this smooth-tongued and subtlest instigator Of the bad passions of our mutinous race, 48 CALVAKY. Ye will not give them time to argue more In snch a cause. Elder. No, we have heard too much. Nicod. Ay, from this Jesus, who has roused your hato By openly denouncing, at all times, Your white-wash'd irreligion, the false pi:mp Of a knee-homage, and your empty vaunts Of charity where lives but self-conceit And pitiless avarice and revengeful .pride. Had he but left your vices unreprov'd Caia. Let him say no word more. Elder. Ay, and take heed. Nicod. Of what ? from whom ? Jos. Arim. [apart to Nicod.] Be cautious ; 't is in vain. Nicod. [to Jos., but aloud. Art thou so lukewarm ? Were I not to speak Against this violence done to sense and right And decency, in this innocent person's words, " The very stones beneath me would cry out." Caia. Enough. The prisoner's friends have pleaded long : Why is he mute himself? By that dread name Thou dost profess to reverence with ourselves, I charge thee, tell us, art tbou then the Christ ? Jesus. Thou sayst it. Caia. That our ears should hear these words ! Elder. Take him to death. Scribe. On to the Judgment, on ! JESUS is Ionic out, amid the scoff's and mockery ofihe crowd, the SENATE rising after, when, ACT IV. SC. 2. 49 Enter JUDAS ISOAEIOT, forcing Ms way through the Servants of the Court. Judas. Stop me not ! 'T is on life and death. "Way ! way ! I must to the Senate. Gala. Fellow, what is 't now ? Judas. Take back your silver ; what is wanting there Will be made good to-morrow. I have lied. I have betray'd the innocent blood. Set free The Eabbi Jesus, and take me instead. Caia. If thoti hast lied, that is thy own affair. Take up thy hire, and with it get thee hence. 'T is nothing to us now, no more than thou. Judas. Let it lie there then. I have kept one piece, As thou didst counsel, [to Nicod. as, on going out, Judas passes him. Nicod. No, not now ; not now. Go home, unhappy wretch, and make atonement By a new life. Judas. I have promis'd " Never more." 50 CALVARY. SCENE III. The porch without the palace of the High-Priest. PETER, weeping. Enter hurriedly, JOHN. John. I have come to seek thee. Why dost tliou weep here ? They have dragg'd Him to the Judgment-Hall. Come, come! Peter. I am weeping not for Him. Didst thou not hear How he foretold I should deny him thrice ? I felt ill-treated then. But, wo is me ! I am weaker than I thought. John. "What hast thou done? Peter. I stood below in the Hall where thou didst leave me, And when they said that I was of his men, In fear denied it. Then the cock crew loud ; And the Lord, turning round to where I stood, Look'd for a moment at me. But that look ! John. "Well mayst thon weep. "We all are weak. But one, One only has been devilish ; and that one Eepented, and hath made atonement. Come ! Peter. What, what atonement ? Judas ? John. Hasten. Yes, Judas has taken his own life. On the way, I will tell thee what I have heard. Come, Simon, come ! ACT IV. SC. 4. 51 SCENE IV. The Gabbatha or Pavement. In the background, PONTIUS on the Judgment-seat, attended In/ his officers and lictors. At Ms right hand waiting, a little apart, a Servant of his household. The chief members of the Sanhedrim among them, but aloof and moving reluc- tantly, NIOODEMTTS and JOSEPH OF AEIMATHEA are ap- proaching the Pavement, to arrange themselves on either side, the People following, to place themselves in front. Pontius, [his face half-turned to the Servant. Tell her, her dreams accord with my day-thoughts I will do what I can ; but the High-Priest Is bent on Iris destruction. Lo, they come, And wait me on the Pavement. Mark thon that ! These bigot Jews will not approach my house, Lest they contract pollution from a Gentile, But meet me when without ! Go tell her that, And bid her hope for nothing from such fools. JESTJS, guarded, is led up through the crowd, and made to stand in the centre of the Pavement, before the Judgment-seat. Caia. Behold the Nazarene. The tetrarch Herod Remands him unto thee. 52 CALVAET. Pont. Because, like me, He finds no fault in him. Must I again Go over the same grounds with like result ? He does not merit death : I will chastise him, Then set him free. Jesus. Take heed to what thou dost ; For with what measure thou shalt mete to me, It shall he meted unto thee again. Pont. Threat'nest thou me ? Jesus. I have no will to threaten, But I have power given me to forewarn. Thou art a man who art not idly cruel, But, where thou think'st there is need, thou dost not stop "Were 't for ten thousand lives. Beware thou then, Nor lend thyself to cruelty that pleads No pretext like thy own ; for God decrees, In retribution, violent ends to those Who practise violence. 4 Pont. If I set thee free, Wilt thou go home unto thy mother now, And brethren, and, thy own good seeking only, Keep from all business that is not thy own ? Jesus. My business is my Father's. He who doth His will Who is in Heaven, the same to me My mother is, my sister and my brother. Caia. Thou seest ; he will not own himself the son Of the dead carpenter, though all the world About him know it and have seen him work ACT IV. SC. 4. 53 At his mean trade. What sayst thou, fellow ? who Art thou in fact ? Jesus. The faithful shepherd, come To lay his life down freely for his flock. Gala. That will be seen. Most noble Pontius, end This mockery. This person breaks, has broken For years our laws, he makes himself to be The son of the Most High, profanes our Sabbath, Derides the priesthood. For these crimes alone His life were justly forfeit : but he is The cause if not the inciter of sedition, Proclaim'd by the idle, ignorant throng, that gather About him everywhere, to be their king, The prince of the House of David, whom the prophet Foretold should come to build us up again Our ruin'd kingdom, and the sceptre wresting From conquering Borne restore it unto Judah. Already in the Wilderness they sought Compulsively to make him king. Jesus. Why need Compulsion, were my kingdom of this world? Caia. Break'st thou my speech? Because, in his own words, His time was not yet come. Pont, [to Jesus.] And is that true ? Hast thou this wild ambition to be king ? Jesus. Ask'st thou this of thyself? Or speak'st thou thus As they who accuse me ? Pont. Am I then a Jew ? 54 CALVARY. They, who have brought thee hither thus arraign'd, Are thy own people. Is their censure just ? Jesus. Let my acts answer. He, who for himself Speaketh and acteth, eeeketh his own glory ; But seeketh he to glorify alone Him who has sent him, he is wholly true And doth uprightly. Nicod. Noble Pontius, hear. The charges that are made against this man Have not one been sustain'd. Nor thou, nor Herod Find ought in him to punish. That the rabble Should seek to make him king if that be so, May at the time give trouble and vex the State ; But is the fault in him ? and should we ever Make innocence suffer ? Pont. I have, as thou must see, No wish to punish, as I find no cause. But your own rulers find one, and insist. Caia. Art thou a friend to Crosar, thou must condemn. This man is hostile to the rule of Ctesar. Nicod. He paid the tribute-money at Capernaum. Jos. Arim. And with this phrase, which in itself alone Defines his purpose and shows the realm he claims To be unearthly : " Bender unto Cscsar That which is hie, to God what is of God." Caia. I have said before, he but abides his time. Are we to wait until the serpent's egg Is hatch'd ? A known contemner of the law, Blasphemous, sacrilegious, full of guile, Seditious, a corrupter of the people, ACT IV. SO. 4. 55 We find ho merits death, and call on thee, Where only is the power, to pronounce it. Pont. People, it is your custom on this day To free a prisoner. Two await your choice. One is Barahhas, a determin'd villain, Who rous'd you to revolt, and in the act Caus'd or committed murder. He is chaiu'd. The other, now before you, is a man Whom I esteem a teacher wise and good, Such as ye need, and such as in your faith Has in all time heen common. By mischance, Or malice of his foes, or through a zeal Too warm perhaps and headstrong, brought in fault, He is led to this tribunal to be doom'd. Bid me release him to you ; for to me He is in no wise guilty. Scribe. But he is Before our law. Release to us Barabbas. Elder. And crucify this Jesus, would-be king. One of the People. Ay, crucify him ! Another. And release Barabbas. Pont. What ! crucify him whom you would make king ? Priest. They have no king but Cajsar. People. To the cross ! Others. Away with him ! Others. And give us up Barabbas. Pont. The man of crime? and slay this harmless one ? Look on him well. What evil hath he done ? Elder. He made himself the Christ. Away with him ! People. Away with the blasphemer ! To the cross ! 56 CALVAKY. Pont. Bring water. Thus, before you, with your rite, I wash my hands of the blood you bid me shed. Elder. Be it on our heads. People. And on our children's heads. Nicod. Even so, ye madmen. People. Crucify ! Away ! Pont, [to the lictors.] Take him. And see they set above the cross, " King of the Jews." Scribe. Not so, but " self-call'd King." Pont. "What I have said is said. Away. People. Away ! Others. To the cross ! Others. To Golgotha ! Another. Put on the crown. A wreath vf thorns is set on Jesus' head. Scribe. Give him a sceptre in his royal hands. Soldier, [putting a reed in Jesus' hand, and bending the Knee before him. Hail, King of the Jews ! People. Away with him ! away! JESUS is led off hurriedly, amid the shouts and derision of the People. ACT V. SO. 1. 57 ACT THE FIFTH Scene I. A highway near and leading to Calvary. NICODEMTJS and JOSEPH OF AEIMATHEA. Approaching them in face, A CENTURION. Jos. Arim. The darkness still continues, the thick clouds, Black as in summer-showers when thunder rolls, Have yet no motion, and the wind is still. Nicod. Nor is there dampness. 'T seems as if the sky "Were not spread with a level mass of cloud, But metal-plated, solid to the sun, "Which hides as God forbade it to give light To this foul crime. Jos. Arim. What if he were the Christ? Nicod. Think'st thou ? He was a prophet at the least, And Heaven by this unnatural blackness notes Its anger or its sorrow. "Who comes yon ? Jos. Arim. 'T is he whose servant Jesus render'd whole, The good Centurion. Nicod. Doubtless from the Mount. His brows are knitted and his lips compress'd, His head cast down. Hail! com'st thou from the scene ? Centur. Of unjust death and torture ? Ay. You Jews Are a malignant and a stiff-neck'd race ; 3* 58 CALVARY. You know not your own fortune. Not at Rome Had we so slain our teachers. Nicod. Athens did, And lo ! Rome's procurator, Pontius, now ! He had the power to stay the insensate mob, But in one breath acquitted and made over To shame and death the man his soul approv'd, Then wash'd his hands, as if the innocent blood Could not bespot a conscience turn'd to steel By selfish fear and tyrannous disregard Of human rights. Centur. 'T is boldly said, but well. I love thee. Let us pass that. Go ye now To see the end ? Nicod. "We do. How bears he up ? Centur. Like a true soldier hero, like a god ! But 't is a horrid sight. I have seen men slain And mangled often, felt, yet fought through all ; But this I could not bear. Go not, ye. Nicod. Nay, 'T is all, the last, that is left us now to do. Jos. Arim. "Wast thou there from the first ? Tell, tell us all. Centur. On his way to the place of death, a rabble throng, As usual in such scenes, preceded, follow'd, Accompanied on both sides, some overjoy 'd, Some simply curious, laughing, hooting, eager. But some there were more decent, and with these Were women weeping, unrestrain'd, though low. Looking on these, the Rabbi, who through all ACT V. SC. 1. 59 Mov'd undisturb'd, though sadly serious, said : " Weep not for me, ye daughters of Jerusalem ; "Weep for yourselves and children. For, behold, The time approaches when they shall call blessed The barren, and the womb that has not born, The paps that give no suck. Then shall they cry : Fall on us, O ye mountains ! and ye cliffs, Conceal us ! For, if in the yet moist wood They do these things, what shall be in the dry?" Nicod. Sad prophecy ! Jos. Arim. And true. Nicod. But doom'd, not less, Only to be regarded when found true. Oentur. Arriv'd at the fatal hill, they strip him bare, Disputing for his garments, which they part. The bitter drink is offer'd, and refus'd : Hero or god, but truly sacrifice, He will not deaden pain. His hands and feet Are nail'd to the cross, Avhich then is set erect, Amid the shouts of the rabble, and the sobs Of some of the women, but without a groan From the poor sufferer, who but op'd his lips In prayer for his torturers : " Father," thus he cried, " Forgive them ; for they know not what they do." Nicod. O more than human ! Jos. Arim. Like an angel ! Centur. Say, 'T was as a man made god, a son of Jove, 60 CALVARY. Alone might speak. But once lie rais'd his eyes Slowly to Heaven ; and oh, with such a look, Of sorrow and pain and resignation mix'd, Awful yet beautiful, my own eyes swam, Which have not been so mov'd since, at ten years, I saw my mother die. Nicod. "We wonder not. Centur. Just at that moment, over all the sky There came this darkness, and the shouts were hush'd, And even the hideous gaiety and jeers While the awe lasted. Jos. Arirn. Staid'st thou there till now ? Centur. Only at intervals. Still around the cross The women sit or kneel, some bath'd in tears, Some sobbing softly, some, their faces hid In their spread palms, their bodies rocking slowly With a continuous motion to and fro, While, further off, the men in various groups, And busied variously to while the time, Unwearied watch to see a brave man die. Nicod. Is it near the end ? Centur. He is sinking even now. One of the robbers is already dead. Before Ye leave me, tell me, ye who know him well, What thiuk ye is this being for whose last hour Jove wraps his throne in darkness ? Nicod. If not man, Haply he is that Christ our prophets told Should come to bless us. ACT V. SO. 1. 61 Jos. Arim. But we have misred Their prophecies, and slay where we should worship. Centur. I will go back with you, and see the end. There have bean men, the earth-born sons of gods, Whom Heaven's high King has chosen to dwell with him, As Hercules and JEsculapius. This May be of the kind. I will behold the end. 62 CALVAKY. SCENE II. Golgotha or Calvary. JESUS, on the cross. At its foot, at one side, MAEY his mother, MARY HAGUALEXE, MARTHA, and other women. Behind them, Jonx. PETER and JAMES, a little more removed. A little later, behind these latter, NICODEMUS, Jos. OF AEIMATHEA and the CEX- TURION, icho, throughout, speak in suppressed tones. On the other side, a guard of Roman soldiers, with their SUB- CENTFBIO or Lieutenant, and two of the Procurator's Lictors. The PEOPLE are variously dispersed on every side. Here and there, a jew of letter condition ; among whom, and near the cross, the SCRIBE and ELDER, interlocutors in previous scenes. One of the People. Thou who destroyest the Temple and again In three days buildest it, come down. Another. Not yet. The Christ sav'd others, or profess'd to save. Himself he cannot. Another. If the Son of God, Come down, and we will worship thee. Scribe. Dost hear ? King of the Jews, descend from thy high throne, That we may look on thee and kiss thy feet. Elder. Those feet are bloody, and those gory hands ACT V. SC. 2. 63 Look not like godhood. Yet we will believe, If thou wilt loose thyself and come to us. Centur. Noble, tmmov'd, he will not deign reply. There is more godhead in those speechless lips Than any human blood can wash away. Nicod. But lo, his mother speaks. Mary. My sou ! my son ! "What shall I do when thou art gone from me ! John. He heeds thee not ; his mind is far away. Magd. No, he looks on ye both. Alas, alas ! Those dying eyes ! O God ! Jesus. Behold, "Woman, thy son. And thou, behold thy mother. John. She shall indeed be unto me a mother, And I from this day. Lord, will be her son. Martha. Be comforted. Mary. Talk not to me of comfort. Look on those lips, is any comfort there ? Those pallid cheeks blood-spotted, and those eyes That call in vain on Heaven. O my son! "Would I had never born thee for this day ; Or would that I had died ere it was come! O Jesus ! my son ! my son ! Centur. Look now ! The end approaches. 'T is the dying thirst That tortures. Nicod. Yet the immortal soul yields not. His head droops lower. "Was not that a sigh ? Mary. Speak to me once again. Dost thon not henr me ? 64 CALVARY. Dost thou yet suffer greatly, O my son ? Nicod. lie hears her not. He is past human sound. Still lower sinks the head. Jos. Arim. He lifts it now. Centur. There is again that look I told ye of. Jesus. My God! my God! "Why, why hast Thou forsook me? People. Hear to him there ; he calls upon his god. Why comes he not to aid him ? Sub-centurion. Peace, thou Jew ! He bears him in a way to teach you all. This to release him. [Takes a spear from a soldier and pierces the side of Jesus. People. Hark ! he speaks again. Jesus. My God ! my God ! into thy hands I yield My spirit. It is finish'd. Mary. Jesus ! Son I. ACT V. SC. 3. 65 SCENE III. As in Act /., Sc. 1. RAPHAEL. MICHAEL. CHOKUS OF ANGELS. Chorus. " 'T is finish'd." In the wintry air The blood congealing Is not renew'd. That pale head, with its thorn-encircled hair Matted and glu'd With gore-drops from the spine-pierc'd forehead stealing, Presses and crimson-spots his shoulder bare, Like the stark limbs revealing That human sense and feeling No more are there. Silent, their cruel mood No longer keeping, The murderers stare On the dead Lamb with eyes that no more rude With malice glare. 66 CALVAKY. The pall lias left the sky ; the breeze comes sweeping Over the Mount ; all other sounds subdu'd As if the slain were sleeping, Save from the women weeping Around the rood. O for the wo we bear ! The Lord of Heaven By angels view'd Between two sinful men stretch'd bleeding there, Mangled and nude. O for the wo ! lo, they to whom 't is given The Incarnate God for sepulture prepare. The Mother sits heart-riven, Weeps the frail Mary driven l^igh to despair. Triumph now Hell's grim brood, In harsh song yelling Their blitheness rare. They see but shame and torture in the rood, "Wo and despair. But other sounds will shake their flame-girt dwelling, When from the vault the Lord, with power indu'd, Eeturns to Heaven, dispelling The grief our hearts now swelling, With happier mood. ACT V. SC. 3. 67 . Hell's joy is futile as our wo in Heaven, And more unmeet. It is our triumph now and their defeat. The heart of Mary may with grief be riven ; But in that pallid, blood-stain'd human shape, The Almighty Father sees His Chosen One, The Lamb through whose atoning blood escape Eve's forfeit race, even those by whom is done This deed of shame, and owns with joy the Son, "Whose fight with mortal trials, well begun, Is now complete. Mich. "Wait not until the Sepulchre shall ope : Now, now rejoice. Those livid limbs need not the hue of hope To color them with beauty like the rose, And the red wounds, through which no longer flows The Virgin's blood, Have each for fallen man a voice, "Would he but listen, loud as Ocean's flood. Raph. Deep in the listening skies The accents penetrate : Rejoice ! it cries. Ascends to grateful Heaven the tone, The death-cry of the slaughter'd one, The Lamb of Sacrifice. Mich. And lo, the awe-hush'd Seraphim Lift up the clos'd lids of their glowing eyes. And soon their rapture-breathing song shall rise In ecstacy of grateful love to Him, The Light from its own brightness dim, 68 CALVAKY. The Source Unseen where, bubbling to the brim, The Fount of Being lies. Eaph. And see, the eternal lights divine That circle round the aye-hidden Throne, Orb within orb of fire, Begin with wonted blaze to shine. The flame within, whose awful glare alone No Seraph's eyes dare gaze upon, "Will upward soon aspire. Mich. And hark, again the ecstatic tone Struck from each golden lyre ! CHOETJS. Joy in the Highest ! Ere Earth's star has risen Three times, the tomb shall tear Open its prison. Then shall the Lord appear In his soul's whiteness, No crown his brow shall wear, Only its brightness. Not while the World shall last Men shall more view him, Not till the trumpet's blast Summons them to him. ACT V. SO. 3. 69 Then shall the gates of Hell Open more never, Then shall the righteous dwell With him forever. Oh come, thou welcome time, "When the Lord, risen, Leaves the World's wo and crime "With the tomb's prison ! SCENE IV. As in Act II., Sc. 1. LTJOIFEK. BEELZEBUB. OHOEUS OF EVIL SPIRITS. Chorus. Flames that circle Hell, Lift your waves rejoicing, "With your roar loud- voicing "What we feel so well, 70 CALVARY. O'er the wo of Heaven, Whence we fell. For the deed is doue. In the Earth's chill air, Naked, nail'd, and bleeding, Stretch'd upon the tree, Suffering pains exceeding Those we hourly bear, Pains the Christ might shun, Will'd he to be free, See stretch'd bleeding there, On the midmost tree, 'Twixt a robber pair, God's anointed Son. On his pain-drawn brow Beads of sweat are lying, With the blood-drops vying Oozing large and slow Through his thorn-crqwn'd hair. See that head droop low ; See the red stream falling Down his side, and now Hear his pale lips calling, Calling Heaven to spare, In a prayer, Where if human weakness, ACT V. SC. 4. 71 Conquering his meekness, Forces not a groan, Yet is all the tone Of despair. Ah, the head droops lower, Ah, the blood drops slower, Listless is his air. Look, ye sons of Heaven I We, the unforgiven, Do we triumph there ? "Wounds that we are feeling Find therein their healing, Though that blood be sealing Our despair. Let the tomb close o'er him, Let his Saints deplore him, Hosts in Heaven adore him ; Ours is not the loss. Weary though we languish, Though with heart's pain aching, Yet our woes find slaking In the sweat and anguish Of the Cross. Lucif. Peace, thoughtless that ye are ! 'T is true I said The Incarnate God was dying, true, is dead. But this is not our triumph ; and your song, So ill elate, 2 CALVAKY. Should rather wail the dead, whose human fate Sets free mankind and makes your chains more strong. Eeelz. How should that be? The disappointed Jew3, Who look for their Messiah in a king, Even common faith refuse To all the man-god's works, and lend no ear To what their prophets sung, and, should he rise Before them all, would close their bigot eyes, And to their disbelief more closely cling, Though they should angels hear. Luclf. 'T is not the risen Christ, the dead I fear. Those wounds, that sweat, that dying cry to God, These are the traits which in all time to come Shall make him lov'd wherever man has trod, And keep the skeptic dumb. The soul that had its sorrows like their own, The Virgin Mother that bewail'd her son, The tortur'd flesh, the heart-wrung prayer, the groan, By these will faith be won. Man keeps for man alone his sympathies, And truly follows only what he sees. Before the God unseen, the Christ ensky'd, "The knee may worship, but the thoughts run wide : But paint the blood-stain'd rood, or, scene more mild, The earth-born Mother with her sleeping Child, The heart then bends, self-love, enlarged, refin'd, Lends its warm color to the colder mind ; Each woman smiles as Mary's self has smil'd, And nobler man his steadfast spirit's pride And suffering frame, where torment is beguil'd ACT V. SC. 4. 73 By sense of wrong inflicted and defy'd, Sees in Christ crucify 'd. Beelz. Fades then our hope in air ? Not such of late Spok'st thou this god. Now stoop'st thou to admire ? Lucif. Ay, without stint, though all the while I hate. Shall I be blind where mope-ey'd mortals see ? "Were I not what I am, I would be He. And yet, I fling defiance unto fate, Here, in this realm of fire, Where even though thou, and all, of wo should tire And bend in penitence the adoring knee, I am what I have been, and dare be free Despite both Son and Sire. No, all is as before. Though Christ has bled, Yet Man shall not yet bruise the Serpent's head. He who has once beguil'd can still deceive, And Adam's heirs are yet the sons of Eve. Some will be better'd, but, while tongues adore, Man's carnal heart beats stubborn as before. The common work none perfect, all begin, And what the Christian worship, yet to be, Shall bid men flee from as the Devil and Sin, Shall tempt, delight, and torture, o'er and o'er, And, like their Mother, make them slaves to me, Till the last Conflagration sets them free, And time, and Earth, and Hell shall be no more. Beelz. Then raise again your joy-song as before, Ye Spirits who float upon this sulphurous air, And pierce the Heaven, which was your home of yore, "With notes of exultation and of scorn ; 4 74 CALVARY. For grief shall find an echo even there, While Adam's sons of Adam's flesh are born And Eve's frail kind shall suckle those they bear. CHORUS in the distance. Flames that circle Hell, Lift your waves rejoicing, "With your roar loud-voicing What we feel so well, O'er the wo of Heaven, Whence we fell. ISTOTES NOTES TO CALVARY 1. P. 6. Since tfie hid daggers of my faithful men, &c.] "CSaruv Se frrayuyriv eis ra 'lfpoffo\v^.a, K. T. \. In brief, thus : Pilate intro- duced water into Jerusalem at the expense of the sacred treasure. The Jews took this in dudgeon, and in great crowds which the historian has exaggerated into myriads (iro\\ai . . . yuuptaSes) endeavored to force him by their tumult to desist, using even personal abuse. The Proc- urator thereupon had some of his soldiers dressed in the Jewish garb, who carried cudgels under their habits (ffKvra.\as viro rais crroA.ais) ;* * 2uToAas is translated by Hudson (Oxon. in fol. 1720. t. ii. p. 798) " sicas," and by Whiston with the corresponding, " daggers." But the word cannot sig- nify, in this place, anything but either scourges (leathern : Th. JTKVTOS, cerium) or cudgels ; and I see Gelenius gives it this latter sense : " clam armatos fustibus" (Anliq. fol. Lugd., 1566): the correctness of which is confirmed by another account of the same affair in the History, where Josephus uses the word fuAou, which indicates the very material, wood (sticks), though that the use of the dagger, or of the short Roman sword, is implied, might be sup- posed from what the historian subsequently says, when recording the result : wore otOTrXoi Ai^ei-res \nf avSpuv eic jrapaoveeurjs eiriepoij.fvei ii.iv xpiuyj) Ka.Ta.ita.Ti]6fv- res anro\ directly before it, in ascribing alike to the divine vengeance the tumult occasioned by the introduction of the Boman ensigns with their images, (.Bell. Jud. xx. ix. 2 & 3,.) whereas we are told that that happened in the beginning of the administration of Pilate, which was in the 12th year of Tiberius, three years before Christ's baptism. CALVARY 79 Will show the Tetrarch, when the rebel blood Of Galileans stain'd my soldiers' swords, I thought not of his rights, and meant no scorn. Otherwise : Will show the Tetrarch, 'twas not in my thought To invade his jurisdiction, when the blood Of Galileans stain'd my soldiers' swords. See Luke xiii. 1. and xxiii. 6, 7. and a note in Wbiston at the pre- ceding passage of Josephus. 3. P. 24. ... the sea wliich God loves.} The Sea of Galilee. A proverbial expression with the ancient Jews. 4. P. 52. Beware thou then . . . for God decrees In retribution vio- lent ends to those Who practice violence.'] According to Eusebius, who gives a little chapter of his History especially to the event, Pilate was reported to have fallen, in the reign of Caius, into such calamities, that in sheer desperation * he became his own destroyer and self-punisher, vindicating thus the divine justice : TTJS betas, &s eoixe, SJ/CTJS OVK (is pattpov O.VTOV fj.eTf\Srovffris. Hist. Eccl. II. 7. ex recens. BURTON ; Oxon. in 8. 1845 ; p. 40. The same still more briefly in Chronicor. Lib. II. (ap. Migne, ubi cit. xix. p. 557-S). But here he advances as authority * In a note on the phrase, ej avayxris, the commentator in Migne (Patrolog. Grsec. t. xx. p. 155) cites King Agrippa (op. Philon. in Legal, ad Caium), who, having been an eye-witness of the doings of Pilate, describes his character. Apart from the man's natural disposition, which is said to have been unyield- ing, arrogant and harsh, his corruptibility, rapacity, and acts of oppression, and of violence even to homicide, were not peculiar to him as a Roman governor in the times of the Empire. 80 NOTES TO CALVARY certain unnamed writers of Roman story us Qaffiv ol ra. 'Pu/j.a.tcav ffuyypatyafj.ei'oia.s before he bad ascribed the talc to certain Greek chroniclers. t t What degree of credit may be assigned to Eusebius as a narrator of events may be judged by what Scaliger says : " Eusebius, quo nullus ecclesiasticorum veterum plura ad historiam Christiamsmi contulit ; nullus plura errata in scriptis suis rcliquit, &c. (in Elencho Trihter. c. 27. Veter. Testim, c. Euseb. in Patrol. Qrsec. i. xix. p. 98.) The same (16. cit.), assigns hun much reading, but little judgment. VIRGINIA MDCCCXLVn CIIARACTEKS Primary Lucius Icinus, plebeian of tribunitial rank. APPIUS CLAUDIUS, chief decemvir. "] senators of consular rank, Lucius VALEBIUS POTITUS, I Jwsti i e to the j) eccmx i r8 an d MAKCUS HOEATIUS BAEBATUS, [friendly to the rights of the ) people. SPUEIUS OPPIUS, colleague ofAppius in the city. Lucius VIBGINIUS, father of Virginia. MAECUS CLAUDIUS, client ofAppius. AULUS LUCEETIUS, ) senators, TITUS QUINCTIUS, \friends of Horatius and Valerius. PUBLIUS NUMITOBIUS, maternal uncle of Virginia. VIEGINIA. ICILIA, sister of Icilius. Li VIA, a creature of M. Claudius. Of secondary importance 2o CITIZEN. IST CITIZEN. A MATBON (termed in the final scene 1st Matron.) Other persons of no distinctiw character CAIUS NUMITOBIUS, son ofPullius, and Virginia's cousin. QUINTUS ICILIUS, brother of Lucius. A LETTEE-CAEEIEE (Tabellarius) ofAppius. LUCILLA, Virginia's nurse. Citizens; Matrons; Nobles, partisans ofAppius; Lictors ; Soldiers ; a Messenger in waiting ; a Herald or Crier . SCENE. Various places in Rome cldefly at the Forum. In Act III., Sc. 3, in a diversorium (or inn) near Some. TIME. That occupied by the representation. COSTUMES. Those of the early republic. VIRGINIA ACT THE FIRST Scene I. A room in the house of Appius Claudius. APPIUS ; SPUKIUS OPPIUS ; with certain young NOBLES, partisans of APPIUS. At a little distance, MAKCUS CLAUDIUS. Spur. Yet, have a care ! Stretch thou the cord too much, It snaps i' the midst, and the recoil offends thee. App. Tush ! Know I not the strength of every strand ? 'T will bear the strain. I'll force the dull mass down, Set my foot on it, and so keep it there, Till ye have drawn the string. 'T is not a hydra ; And if it were, we nobles in our strength Wield the huge club should crush its thousand heads. If not, so .be it ! retire ; and I alone, As my great-grandsire, the first Appius, swore, Alone will do it! 4 VIRGINIA. Spur. And alone will fail. Thou speak'st as if the people were one mass ! "With all its heads, the snake had bnt one body ; This has more bodies, though it h:is fewer heads. App. I speak of it as it is ; one mass, one head, Flock, if thou wilt, of many thousand sheep. A single man may pin them in one fold. A Noble. And sheer, and slaughter them. Spur. But then, observe, He feeds them too. 'T is what the unfolded flock, Our people, bleat for : Give us lands, they cry. Noble. And free us of our collars. App. And what else ? Let the brutes earn their freedom first. For lands When they have paid for what they browze on, why It is not many years since Caius Marcius Drove, all but single-handed, troop on troop Of Volscians back into Corioli, And fired it in their faces. Know ye why ? They were the rabblement, your bleating sheep. He knew and scorn'd them. And they bent their backs, Because their hearts were craven and they felt He knew and scorn'd them. Had he back'd one step On his Mars-visage had they read one doubt They had turu'd, as curs do ; and his after-name Caius had lack'd. Spur. What did it profit him ? He show'd the same mien to the people here Flouted their tribunes and, with all his valor, He died in exile. ACT I. SC. 1. 85 App. Ay because he flinch'd. Thou mayst look, Spurius ; 't is the naked fact. Did not all Rome lie prostrate at his feet, Bleeding, exhausted ? grovel in the dust, Admit his wrongs, and pray to be forgiven ? He might have made conditions, as I would, And bound the rabble in their chains for ever. But in his heart, right royal though it was Why look ye fnghten'd ? all your hearts, I trust, Are royal that is, made for kingly rule, As fits a noble, though he be of Rome. And Caius' heart was royal, though not strong, Not wholly so ; it hid one tender spot. His wife and mother kneel'd to him ; and the face That scar'd a thousand foes wept woman's tears. Spur. "Wouldst thou have trod upon the womb that bore theo ? App. "Why, no ; I see no need of that : I had bid The woman mind her spinning, and stepp'd over. By Hercules ! methinks that with my twelve Poor lictors, I alone could awe this mob ! But while our colleagues, and you,'noble friends, Stand by our side, against our serried force "What shall make head ? The Fabii all alone, Six and three-hundred only, but all born Patrician as are we, against a host Stood up and battled Spur. And fell down, and died, All to a man. App. Thou bird of evil omen ! 86 VIRGINIA. The shadow of thy wings, three times this hour, 1 Hath gloom'd my sunniest prospect. I had thought Thou, Spurius, wast my right hand. Spur. And I am. The wings thou givest me flap before thine eyes, Not to deter, but check. The gloom they cast Is transient, partial, chills not, and is needed. Thy ardent temper spreads a light too broad, Too vivid on thy outward path. All shines, One blaze of sunlight ; crags look smooth, and chasms Show no disruption where thou 'It find, too soon, Kocks Atlas-high, and fissures deep as Hell. App. Does the way fright thee ? Spur. Scarcely more than thee. And 't were too late. If thou go down, my head, Be sure, rests not unmuffled. App. Now, no more. Are we resolv'd? The senate, all our order, Will not erase one letter of their rights ; And the decemvirate shall not expire, To give place to the people's tribunes ? All nobles. No! Spur. Valerius and Horatius would say, Ay. App. Lucius Valerius ! Have not all his name Cring'd to the rabble, since the consul's day, Who bow'd his valiant knee to this mud idol, And gain'd what for it ? The people laid him out ! 2 He had not left an ounce to pay for torches, This good Publicola ! Odious after-name ! Spur. Thou need'st not fear ; no Claudius will deserve it. ACT I. SC. 1. 87 App. No Appius has. The people, did they hate My grandsire, as his sire, fear'd him more. They honor'd too his obsequies, for all Their tribunes' clamor. Let them honor mine, I reck not ; but I will be fear'd as he. I set not, I, the goddess of the sewers Above high Jove ! For young Horatius' voice, 'T is not so potent as a tribune's veto. Spur. Yet has a clear loud tone that makes it heard. Witness that day, so recent, when our right To call the senate for the instant war Met question. Thou might'st thank Cornelius then, "When Lucius from the senate-porch made cry Unto the people, his arms about thee cast Sav'd thee from violence, and us both from ruin. 3 The Fathers all, but that they hate the commons, Would join these madmen, and the temple's walls, Sacred in vain, once more reverberate The tribunes' thunder haply from the throne Of thy sworn enemy, Icilius. App. Ah ! Thou dost remind me. Noble friends f to-night Meet we again in secret, and our plans, Already ripening, make mature. The suu Warns me we nigh to mid-day, when I sit For justice. Kseso, bring thy brother over. Thy uncle, Op'iter, shall have all he asks. Mutins, thou wilt not fail me ? All, farewell. [Exeunt Nolles. 88 VIRGINIA. Sjiur. 'T was time. App. Most true. Thy evil genius, Spurius, Had got dominion of thee. Was it well, To cross my arguments, and fright those boys ? Spur. Who need no Pan. Didst thou not note, thyself, How pale they grew ? thou didst but hint at kings. Thou art too fiery. App. And thou waxest cold. Spur. I have had a dream. App. A dream ! Spur. 'T was at mid-day. I saw the tender spot, which Marcius had, Spread over thy whole heart, and Rome again Lost to her conqueror for a woman's tear. App. Thou hast no mercy. Spur. Will the people have ? Was there in Rome no other girl but this ? Virginias' daughter, and the plighted spouse Of dread Icilius ! If the father's merit Wake not the mob, that will the lover's tongue. Were she hedg'd in with fire, 't were peril less To conic at her. Thou heed'st mo not. I see, The madness which no hellebore can heal Will have its course. I leave thee to thy client. [Exit. App. Come hither, Marcus. Is this thing of thine How didst thou name her ? Mar. Livia, noble patron. App. Is she prepar'd ? Will she go through the part ? ACT I. SC. 1. 89 Mar. Through, and with spirit, such as gives revenge. The wrong she fancies that Virginius did her, Some such a wrong as one might do a fig, "Who found it rotten, throwing it away, This rankles in her heart and that, a woman's. I'll answer for her. App. Do my lictors wait ? Mar. They guard the vestibule, most noble Appius. App. While thou shalt help me to dispose my mantle, 4 I'll question further. ' This way. But, remember ! I'll have no stumbling. If she trips, her life Shall pay for it. Mar. My own upon her faith ! 90 VIRGINIA. SCENE II. The Atrium, or quadrangular Hall, in the house of Icilius. VIRGINIA, with spindle and distaff, spinning wool. ICILIA, weaving at a small loom (before which she stands, as in the antique fashion, working upwards). A little distance removed, ~but seated, Virginia's nurse, winding the thread for Virginia. lea. Our fears, I have heard my brother say, Virginia, Make omens for us, and our heart's own line Gives accidental color to these things Which in themselves are nothing. Not but Jove, In matters which concern the general weal, May give us warnings, which his augurs gather, From the dread thunder, or from birds and beasts : But that each atom of the mighty mass Should for its pettiest movements need, or needing, Keceive celestial guidance, staggers sense, And blasphemously littles the great gods above us. Va. How well thou talkest! lea. It is Lucius, all. That sweet lip's sadness, let my kiss dispel it. The thrill of thy heart's longing makes thee tremble : Two little days, and thou and Lucius one ! It seems a dream : thou fearest to awaken. This must be all. The vile decemvir's passion Cannot aifright thee now. Thy valiant fathei Ere sunset will have come : the pressing message, ACT I. SC. 2. 91 Borne by thy cousin and my brother Quiutus, Leaves him no choice. Va. Ah, did he know the cause! That Koine, to guard whose honor, though already Defended by a thousand hearts as brave As his, his pious breast is bar'd in Algidum, Cannot from insult shield the motherless girl His absence orphans ! lea. Better as it is. His wrath, already, for the people's sake, Kindled against the usurping Ten, might there, There where alone their power can reach his life, Burst into flame. Enough, and all too soon, When he shall come. For Lucius Va. Never, O never, may lie know it ! lea. 5 Not at least Till Hymen's torch is lighted, and the couch Here spread i' the hall bids mystery henceforth cease Twixt him and thee ; when the flame-color'd veil Deepens thy blushes, and the fring'd robe is on thee Whose purple border I am weaving now, And, girded with the woolen belt whose knot My brother's hand alone shall loose, thou standest Trembling beneath the garland-cover'd porch, And greet'st him with the soft yet solemn form, Where thou art Caius, I am Caia; when, In fine, thou art plainly as in heart my sister, Virginia Icilii. See. Lucilla, see! 92 VIEGINIA. sadness Las all vanish'd ; and her cheek Love's own is not more rubious ! Happy brother ! Tell me, my sister, tell me now, for what Lov'st thou our Lucius most ? Is 't for his form ? His stately step ? or for his manly brow ? Or that he is good ? or for his eloquent tongue, Or valiant heart ? or - Fa. Why not say for all ? For all he is dear to me, as he is to thee ; But most for what endears him to the people : For his upright soul, for that he dares be just, Scorning all falsehood, and more proud to be One of the down-trod commons, from whose limbs "With his own breast he wards the crushing heel, Than head of the cruel Claudii, whose proud lords, From Attus down, have kept their iron feet Ever upon the people's neck, nor lift it But just so much as may give room to breathe. For this my father loves him, and for this He bade me, pointing to the people's hearths, "Where everywhere Icilius' image stands, Invisible but distinct, nor dreads their smoke, Sole tutelar-god, he bade me, if I could, To make him too my house-god, by the hearth Of my yet virgin feelings shrin'd for ever ; And and [throwing herself on Icilia's breast. -I did. lea. [soothing ho:} Nor art asham'd, I hope, ACT I. SC. 2. 93 To have done it. Weeping ? Silly child ! Who comes? Enter, from the door of the hall, LIVIA, meanly dressed. Her cloak, drawn oxer her head, hides her features. Liv. Asks that the sister of the good Icilius? Protector of the poor, here in his house The word for the poor is "Welcome," not " Who comes?" lea. Welcome then, mother. Liv. I am not so old To be thy mother ; neither am I fit To sit before ye [as the nurse, at IcaSs T)ecTc, places before her a stool.} though this slave may do it. lea. Fie, woman ! If thou know'st Icilius, know His house permits no slight on those it covers, As his true heart reproaches no condition. What wouldst thou ? Liv. Charity. lea. That thou shalt have. What is thy need? Liv. I rent a wretched shed Of Marcus Claudius, the decemvir's client, And pander to his pleasures. Dost thou shrink, [to Va. } who draws up to Icilia. My pretty maiden ? 'T is a bold, bad man. lea. Spare mention of him, and proceed. Liv. The rent, Full five denarii, has consum'd my all. 6 lea. Thou shalt have money. [Exit. 94 VIRGINIA. Liv. [to the mirse.] 'T is a mettled maid, Most like her brother. But this timid child Savors not of him. She is scarce so near ? Nurse. Yet will be nearer soon, as dearer now. Va. Hush, my Lucilla ! To a stranger, this Liv. May yet have interest. Thou art, well I sec, The brave Virginias' daughter, and for him, As for Icilius, guardians of our rights, Foes to our wrongers, may this.breast beat kindly, Though rude my speech as oft with the unhappy. On these auspicious nuptials, Juno Pro'nuba, Shower down thy joys, and bless united Rome ! Shall our Icilius he belongs to all Be happy soon ? Nurse. In two brief days from now. Enter ICILIA. lea. Take these few sextants for thy present need. Icilius, when he comes, shall give thee more. Behold him 1 Enter IOILIUS. Icilius. My Virginia ! Sister ! "Whul ! A stranger ? Liv. [to lea.] Jove the Hospitable quite you ! [hurrying out. Icil. Stay. Why this haste ? My coming should not frighten "Whom my house renders grateful. Art thou poor ? I am Icilius, and Icilius 1 heart ACT I. SO. 2. 95 Yearns for the needy, as his weaker brethren "Whom Heaven is pleas'd to humble, but whom men Must pity and love, or they most foully sin. Let me look on thee. Thou art of the people. Why shouldst thou shroud thy face ? Icilius' blood Boasts not that noble taint which puffs the heart Spite of the sepulchre ; nor has hoarded brass Made him wealth-swollen. So. What ! do I dream ? Thou art Know'stthou Virginius? Art thou dumb, Yet tremblest ? Woman, I like not thy looks. Yet I will not condemn thee. Go in peace. Icilius' house is open to the poor, But for the vicious has no room, till empty. Liv. Thou art Icilius. In thy inmost heart Rankles the pride thou spurnest in the noble. Plume thy false feathers. In a little while, They will be ruffled, never more to smooth. I see the beak that 's whetted for thy gore, And for Virginius' ! Take thy niggard brass, Thou scornful maiden, [flinging the money towards lea.] May its scanty ounces Weigh like a thousand pounds upon thy spirit. To the infernal gods this house I consecrate ! [Exit. Icil. Weep not, Virginia ; turn not pale, my sister. Think ye the curses of an impious heart Can sway high Jove, or speed the shears of fate ? Va. 7 Alas, I weep not therefore, though my heart Shrunk in me, quailing under her fierce eyes, Whose gaze made cold my blood. Icilia too, Forgetful of her gentle spirit, spoke brief. 96 VIKGINIA. Ica. She pleas'd me not ; and I am Lucius' sister : I cannot make my tongue belie my heart. Icil. Heaven plants in us these instincts for our good. The dullest hound the man that likes him not Knows by the look ; and in its nurse's arms The child makes like distinction, though around it All seem to smile and fondle it alike. The dog, being dumb, his vigilance retains ; The man, no longer mute, neglects the gift ; And oft the small voice of a passing doubt, Unlisten'd as irrational, recurs, Alas too late when echoed by regret. What troubles thee, Virginia ? Va. To this stranger Thou nam'dst my father, Lucius. Icil. 'T was my thought I saw a Volscian woman thy sire knew, And knowing scorn'd. "What was her plea for alms ? Ica. She talk'd of hardship beggary by her rent Paid Claudius, Appius' client. Icil. A strange tale, To have so strange an ending ! Claudius ! tool Of the deprav'd decemvir ! What means this? Why look ye one to the other so confus'cl ? What should two innocent girls know of this man ? Ica. Virginia, I must speak. Va. No, no ! not yet ! I do beseech thee, my Icilia, not ! Icil. Virginia, is tbat right ? When on thy finger I put this iron ring, plain like ray truth, A.CT I. SO. 2. 97 And solid like to it, I deera'd our hearts Were as its circle, that nor mine nor thine Show'd where the one began, the other ended. Why this reserve? Va. For thy sake, not for mine, Believe me, Lucius ! Icil. Is not Lucius fit To be entrusted with his own protection ? Va. Ask me no more not now. It does not rest, Should not with me, an ignorant girl, to judge If I may speak. Before the sun be down, My father, sent for Ml. Sent for ? Who did that ? lea. I did, my brother. 'T was not rashly done. Itil. Yet two days hence, Virginius would be here! Now is it strange, that I, Virginius' friend, Chosen by Virginius for Virginius' son, 1 Should have no voice to speak in an affair Seeming so urgent for Virginius' sake! Va. Oh ! no, thou wilt not say so, when thou knowest! Icilia, speak for me. As Lucius' spouse, Could I do otherwise, not self-condemn'd ? lea. Had Lucius' sister elso encourag'd thee ? Icil. Forgive me. Jealous though my mind, its trust Is boundless in your loves and matchless faith. I will have patience. Does Virginius know ? Va. Nothing ; and for like reason. I had pray'd Thou might'st be spar'd this grievance. Now, alas ! Thou must know all ; and from my father's lips Thou shalt. O Lucius ! 98 VIRGINIA. Icil. Why that mournful look? "Why do those eyes so sadly fix on mine, And swim in tears ? Va. I know not ; but my soul Is sore disquieted ; a ceaseless dread Of ill impending, shadowy-vague, yet vast, Weighs down my spirit. Even as I gaze, 'T seems ns a mist rose like a veil between us And shut thee from my sight, which strives in vain To catch thy fading features. Do not leave me ! Stay by me, Lucius! [throwing herself on his Ireast and sobbing. Icil. Will I not forever ? My' arms encircle thee : what shouldst thou fear ? This is some sickness that distracts the brain. Thou hast look'd pale of late, and thy blue orbs Are purpled underneath with heavy watching. Why dost thou shake thy head ? That untold title ! Thou fill'st me with disquiet, and my man's-heart, Though now thy pillow, trembles with a fear Would mate thy own. Alas ! and 't is a moment Icilius needs his courage, for Koine's sake! lea. This must not be. Cheer up, Virginia, sister ! Art thou Virginias' daughter, and of Rome? Va. I am Virginias' daughter, and a Roman : I try, for Lucius' sake, to look less sad ; But the weak heart will not be school'd. Bear with me ; I shall be better soon. Thou wilt not leave me ? Not till my father comes? Icil. Unhappy chance ! ACT I. SC. 2. 99 I had No matter : 't is the only time Icilius has broke faith. I will not leave thee. No custom'd cause would move thee thus. The gods Perhaps give warning Fa. Never, to break fuith. If thou art promis'd elsewhere, go. My love Lives in thine honor only : to love less Were not to love Icilius. Icil. Peerless maid ! Thou leading and sustaining, virtue's height Is no-way hard to climb. But should he leave thee, Wliat heart, Virginia, could Icilius have ? What power of judgment? Thy distress, his fears, Doubt, and conjecture, would pursue him still, And Rome's best interests suffer. Let me stay ! Fa. Before I knew thee, Rome had all my love. When, happy in thy suit, my indulgent sire Would have me listen it, he bade me note, First of thy virtues, love of Rome and freedom. ' For my love's sake were 't well, Icilius, then, - To wrong that virtue which first won my love? Forget my passing weakness. Ere the night, Rome's liberty shall be, even for my sake, And for thy own, a thousand-fold more dear. Icil. Strange riddle ! which I dare not try to read. Thou wilt await my coming back? Va. No, no : Thy duties might be slighted ; and for me, My tarrying long might make me found too slack To meet my father. 100 VIRGINIA. Icil. Now, the all-conscious gods, Thou dear Virginia, mark thy worth and bless thee ! Thou mak'st my passion reason, that before Was happy impulse. On the homeward way, Passing the Forum, I shall look to join thee: But at thy uncle's, surely. [Exit. lea. Why, Virginia! Had the gate clos'd upon Icilius dead, Thou could'st not look more blank. Va. 'T is all the same. There is a weight here [pressing her heart.} crushes out my life ; And the gloom'd spirit whispers, as 't were Fate, No torch shall light me save unto the tomb. Ic-'i. Virginia ! Are my brother's words so vain ? The statutes of the most high gods shall stand, Nor hopes nor fears can alter them one jot. Va. I know it, I feel it, and I am resign'd. Yet, not the less, I shudder. lea. And thou dost ! This must be sickness. Va. Oh yes, of the heart. I would the night were, and my father come ! IOILIA. presses her soothingly to her 7>osom, whereon VIRGIXIA has laid her head ; and, slowly, the Scene changes. ACT I. SO. 3. 101 SCENE III. The Via Sacra with the Forum, having the Capitoline Hill on the left, seen in the distance, the street winding ob- liquely to the right into the Forum. The houses, on either side of the street, are scattered, low of structure, and of humble appearance, as in the earlier days of the republic. VALERIUS and HOKATIITS. Val. Thou doubt'st then, Marcus, Quinctius will make one? Hor. I know not. If tliou art Valerius, I A true Horatius, Titus has no less The blood should love the people. Would lie stand To Appius now, as opposite as his sire Fronted his bloody colleague of that name, 'T were much. Not every heat gives fire. Few men Burn like Icilius. Quinctius may yield smoke. Val. "Well ! so it sting our enemy's eyes, not ours. But see ! Icilius ! with his wonted stride. By Hercules! but tliat his field 's the Forum, Not the trench'd camp, he frowns 8 a second Marcius ! Hoi\ Not of the senate. Coriolanus' hate Was not so strong as is Icilius' love, To the down-trorlden commons. Val. It may be With like extreme. Hor. I think not. Yet if 't were, Better, a thousand times, the unsparing hurricane 102 VIRGINIA. Of popular tumult, than the stifling calm Of absolute power ! That, its violence spent, May leave the air of the commonweal more pure ; But from the dead stagnation of the other "What shall purge off its pestilent miasms, And make it vital ? Val. Why, another hurricane. And lo ! the ^Eolus shall loose the winds. Enter ICILIUS. Thy brow is overcast. IciL A passing cloud Brought from the sky of home. The public sun Shall leave no speck to o'ershadow you or me. "What of the senate, friends ? Val. A blank account, Or unity the total. Ilor. Scarcely that. "We have but the half of a man, his soul being parted 'Twixt would and would not. Icil. That is? Val. Titus Quiuctius. Icil. His sire was lov'd of the soldiers. Hor. But the son Will never be lov'd of any save his heir. He comes ! and How is this ? Who is that beside him ? Val. Aulus Lucretius. Hor. Is lie mad ? or dares ACT I. SC. 8. 103 The hound betray us, thinking we are so ? Icil. Neither, or either. Either is all one. We are no dark conspirators, though sworn For the public good. What do we, that we do In the light of day, as now : else were Icilius None of your league. Enter TITUS QUINXITIUS with AULUS LUCRETIUS. Be welcome, Titus Quinctius. Thou knowest why we are met, and com'st resolv'd To aid us, head and hand. But this, thy friend, Aulus Lucretius ? Lucr. Is alike reso] v\l. Icil. I am Icilius, and I hold the people The sole legitimate source of sovereign rule, For that they are the many, and their thews Strain to heave up, to prop and keep sustain'd, The edifice whose chambers ye but fill. Were Appius not your master as our tyrant, My hate to your cruel order were not less, And, the decemvirate overthrown, Icilius Steps on its carcase, to do buttle still For freedom and the people's rights. Thou nearest : These are my motives. What are thine ? Lucr. I am Lucretius, and the common folk of Rome I have in hatred less than in disdain. But is there eye so blear'd that sees not Appius 104 VIRGINIA. Striding to sovereign *le across our necks? He cring'd to the people, and they set him o'er them. He trod them down. He cringes now to us. And Rome beholds the guardians of her state Become mere servitors to the usurping Ten, Whose plural tyranny even now is merging Into the singular rule of this bold man. I love my order, and will let no Tnrquin Level its pillars to rear himself a throne. These are my motives. Icil. And they please me little ; As does thy purpled tunic, which they suit. But thou dost much ; for thou 'rt a man ; thy tongue Fears not to utter what thy soul dares think. Aulus, there is my hand. Hor. And mine. Vol. And mine. Icil. Thou seest, Quinctius: not alone the commons, But thine own order smarts beneath the yoke. Hast thon not heard of Tarquin, nam'd the Proud ? What did he to the Fathers? Slept the axes Then in the fasces ? Let your house-gods tell. War, peace, state-treaties, then no more were made By council and allowance of the senate: The State was Tarquin. Now, there reign ten Tarquins, Girt with their tsventy and a hundred axes, Which soon will pale but one, and ported bare : 9 Meet emblem of a spirit as haught and bloody As that hi- prototype's, whose chariot-wheels Crash'd th'-ough the butcher'd trunk of his wife's sire, ACT I. SC. 3. 105 And made the street Accursed to this day ! ' Quinc. Why speak so loud ? Icil. Because I would be heard. "Why ask not too why stand we here i' the street, "When a house-wall would shield us from the air, And treason ? Fear'st thou Appius ? Quinc. No ; I fear The unripeness of this complot. Should the people Gather around us Icil. They would spare me trouble : I go to gather them. Should the tyrants come Quinc. Lo, Oppius now ! Icil. "Well: let him pass. "What hinders ? Enter SPTJEITJS OPPITTS, preceded ly his twelve lictors, marching in file, one ly one, with the fasces shouldered. As they pass before the Jive, going up the street, QTJINCTIUS gives way, and seems about to go, while ICILIUS and the rest main- tain their ground, ICILIUS talking as they pass. Aulus Lucretius, seest thou these fellows ? Now is it not a shame, that thou and I, Valerius and Iloratius, and all true men, Whose blood boils at such insolent parade, Should stand by quiet, when a private man, Of no more right than ourselves, dares ape the king Even in our faces ? Spur. Thou talkest big, Icilius. Icil. Not bigger, Oppius, than I feel, or look, 5* 106 VIRGINIA. Or inean to approve myself in act, some time. Spur. That we shall see some time. Move, lictors, on ! [Exit, the procession, up the scene. Hor. Thou hast scar'd the heart out, of our Quinctius, Lucius. Quinc. Perhaps not, Marcus: but, I thank Minerva, 'T is not so choleric as to choke my wit. Hor. Thy wit having never life, that were not easy. Quinc. -And let me ask Icilius, is it wise To taunt the enemy ere our battle 's order'd ? Icil. Our forces need not, nor would suffer order : 'T is here the people, and abroad the soldiers. "We leaders give the signal, and set on, And the mass follow as their passions dictate. Ours is no plot : was ever such with thousands ? Nor would such suit me : but the Ten have theirs, Secret and sworn. Quinc. A plot ? Lucr. With what intent ? Vol. To make their power perpetual, set aside The holding of elections, and destroy, At least in part, the senate. Lucr. Know'st thou this? By honor's god ! there 're some that sit i' the House, "Will not be tamely butcher'd. Who assist them? Vol. Some of the younger nobles, vicious friends, Or followers more, of Appius. [Here Qviycnvs, looking down the street, steals off in the direction of the Forum. ACT I. SC. 3. 107 Hor. Corno with us : This is no street-talk, and thou shalt hear that Will make thee certain, while Icilius goes To fire the people. Lucr. Where is Quinctius ? Val. Look! [pointing down the street. Hor. What, Appius coming ! I forgive him then. Lucr. Still, thou mayst trust him. Hor. True for passive aid. Enter, in the same order as Oppius, APPIUS CLAUDIUS, the 1st Lie- tor holding, besides Ids fasces, a rod to clear the way. At a little distance from the decemvir, and aside, MARCUS CLAUDIUS, his client. ICILIUS, as before, keeps his place unmoved. 1st Lict. Way ! way, for the great decemvir ! Stand aside ! [offering to touch Icil. with the rod. Icil. Aside ! thou insolent slave ! Aside ! To whom ? Is it to thee, [striding deliberately up to Appius, who, in turn, moves a step towards him. usurper of a charge By law expired ? Icilius bows to law, Not to law-breakers, and gives place to no man, Save whom the sovereign people set above him. 108 VIRGINIA. Enter two or more CITIZENS, in their tunics. 11 1st Cit. "Worthy Icilius ! 2d Cit. Out upon the tyrant ! App. Hot-headed fool ! Must I bid strip the rods, To scourge thee hence ? IciL [rushing on him.] Now, by ! ' ALEBITJS, HOBATIUS, and LUCKETIUS spring "between the two, and at the same time keep off the lictors. Vol. Quirites ! freemen ! ] ^ Help your Icilius ! Hor. Break the fasces ! Lucr. Appius, Go on your war, or ! i > J .** App. Lictors, do your duty. Beat back the rabble 1 . Seize, bind, the Marc. CL Noble patron ! This word, [whispers a moment. App. O brave ! Forbear we once. Peace, all. Icilius, I shall take a fitter time To punish thy presumption : the tribunal "Waits now my sitting. Aulus, as for thee, Thou knowest me now thy foe. Lucr. And such, defy thee. App. Move on ! [to the lictors.] I yield to triumph. [giving way to Icil. and smiling on him as he passes, Icil. standing still. Exit, the procession, up the scene. ACT I. SC. 3. 109 MARCUS, loitering behind, stops in the background at a signal from LIVIA, who, in the disguise of Scene II., enters as ICILIUS turns to the Citizens. LIVIA goes up to MAECUS, and they whisper. Icil. Citizens, Put on your mantles, gather your friends, the friends Of law and liberty. On to the Forum. There "Wait me, but peaceful. 2d Cit. Peaceful ! No ; but quiet. [Exeunt Citiz. Icil. [to Valer., etc. Brave friends ! true senators ! [Sees Livia walking off with Marcus, and looking back at Icil. significantly, as they confer in whispers.] Ah ! What means that? Val. The cloud again, Icilius? Icil. Ay, I fear Its shadow this time threatens rain. Dost know That woman ? Val. No ; but he that whispers her Is Appius 1 filthy pander. We may guess. Icil. [to himself.] No no no no. O let me not think that ! Val. [softly.] Let us away. Hor. [same.] 'T is strange ! What can it mean? 110 VIHGINIA. Lucr. [same.] Is he so often ? Vol. Never so before. He met us sadly. But the gloom was brief. Icil. [to himself.] Horrid suggestion ! Lucr. 'T is not fit we stay. [Eigunt, quietly, the three senators. Icil. "Was this tby dark foreboding, poor Virginia ? But the dread arrow shall have other mark ! Help, ye avenging Furies ! [moving rapidly up the scene.] I am mad. [coming back slowly. On mere suspicion ! Appiua would not dare, So plac'd, so hated : daring, what his means? No, no ! 't is but a fancy, yet a fancy - So horrid-torturing, my tough heart cracks, And my brain seems unsettled. My Virginia ! The drop falls. ACT II. SO. 1. Ill ACT THE SECOND Scene I. The Forum. In front, at the upper part of the scene, the tribunal, with the curule chair. On the right [left of spectators], a, row of seven shops under a portico, and, between the shops and the tribunal, the statue of Venus Cloacina. a On the left, Citizens more about, or converse in groups. Lictors ranged on either side of the tribunal. APPIUS and MAKCUS. App. Two days, sayst thou? It must not, shall not be, Even if I touch his life ! But that were rash. Marcus, thy plan. Give 't instant execution. Is the hag ready ? Marc. Always. And the time Seems opportune. Her sire at the camp, Virginia Dwells with her uncle, and her way now home Crosses the Forum. But she may not come. App. Why dost thou dash my hopes? Marc. Because, dread patron, Livia's detection must alarm the maid, May keep her hous'd. App. Besiege the door. Mare. A violence So hold might startle even thy subject Koine. This would I say : in case the girl conic not, 112 VIRGINIA. Virginius must be stay'd, to give us time. App. Or if she come. "Well thought ! Till I have tam'd This bird to her perch, and taught her know my call. Thy tablets quick! and style. [Marcus takes them from the lap of his mantle, and Appius writes rapidly one or two lines. See that my messenger, My speediest, carries this in all haste to Algidum. Thou 'It see to whom. And bid him shun Virginius. Marc. "Were 't not best, first transcribe it on a leaf? App. No, waste no time. Thou think'st they be alarnrd. They might then get before us. Haste thou back. Revenge has given new edge to my desire. [Exit MARCUS. But what will come of it ? Have I thought that well ? To achieve this loathing maid, what do I hazard ? The crown I 'd clutch, whose visionary round Burns on my temples nightly. "What if more ? The father's virtues, and the popular name Of the affianc'd lover, may rouse this Rome Which I have drugged to so deep slumber ; and then ! I see O horror ! 't is the new Lucretia, Dead in her father's arms ! the bloody knife, Smoking and dripping, lifted ! Brutus calls, "With arms spread out, upon the gods of Hell ! "Was that crash thunder? 'T is the o'erthrown tri- bunal Lictors and fasces trampled down together ! The rabble like a pack of wolves rush on me ! How their throats yell ! I hear their panting ! nearer ACT II. SC. 1. 113 Nearer ! Their hot breath scorches ! Help ! oh, help ! [aloud, and running. 'T is nothing, men : I did but clear my throat. [The lictors, who had advanced to him at his cry, resume their station. A horrid dream ! But this, the Forum [looking around him with a shudder.] sunlight : I am awake, and still decemvir, still Decemvir paramount ! and will be more. Yet, oh! Virginia! [with a degree of softness. Oppius spoke too true : Marcius' soft spot spreads over all my heart. Why did I make that law ? what is plebeian, That flesh patrician may not mate with it ? 13 Sprung from Lavinia's self, in line direct, This maid were not more precious. I will do it ! Will break the law ! will wed her ! But will she ? Icilius Death and Hell! Off, lying visions! Though Heaven should rain down blood, I will not yield ! [Turns up the Scene, which shifts to /Scene 2. 114 VIRGINIA. SCENE II. Another part of the Forum. ICILIUS and NUMITORIUS meeting. Icil. Publius Nnmitorius ! Thou art well met ! What brings thee to the Forum? Num. Natural care. I seek my sister's child. But thou look'st ruffled ! Icil. And thou o'er-sad. 'T is like we have one cause. For I too seek Virginia. Why shouldst thou, With so unusual care, her nurse being with her, Forsake thy house Virginius too expected ? Num. Thou know'st that then ! Canst thou say why expected ? Icil. Would that I could ! And yet the bare conjecture Makes my blood curdle. Why are Home's free streets No longer safe for virgins ? Asking that, Do I show why Virginius might be look'd for ? Why I am ruffled, and thou over-sad ? Does thy heart, Publius, freeze and boil at once, As mine does, at the sound of one man's name Coupled with pure Virginia's ? Num. And that name ? 'T is ? Icil. Appius. Speak! Num. It does. What dost thou know ? Icil. Nothing. Thou? what dost thou? Protecting gods ! Who from your favor'd Capitol look down ACT II. SC. 2. 115 Ou prostrate Rome, Pena'tes of her state ! Jove the all-great, all-good ! thou sovereign Juno ! Armipotent Minerva ! if once more Your shrines shall beam on freemen new-creato, Exact not like atonement ! Let not blood Bedrop this time the white fleece of the lamb ! Num. Thou mak'st me shudder. Icil. 'T is my own heart's echo. Seest not I shiver? Num. Yet thou knowest nought : Nor I. Be calmer. , Icil. Thou didst ask the name. Said I not Appius ? Wherefore art thou here ? Why should we both fear outrage for Virginia ? Num. Yet neither may have ground. What thou hast heard, What seen, I know not. When thy brother, Quintns, Came for my son to journey to the camp Icil. They told me not of that ! Say on ! Say on ! Num. The boy could nothing tell. But from his haste, The sudden need. from strange, mysterious looks And hints of the nurse, from What is that ? Nurse, [within, from the side.] Help! Romans! 'T is Virginius' daughter ! Num. [hurrying after Icilius, w7io, at the first sound, has sprung forward in the di- rection of it.} Gods! we are too late. 13 {Scene shifts suddenly to Scene 3. 116 VIRGINIA. SCENE III. Same as Scene I. of the Act. APPIUS is seated on the tribu- nal, girt ~by his lictors. Near the shops, VIKGINIA and her NUBSE, struggling with MABCUS CLAUDIUS. The People, who are now mired with one or two Women, making towards them. Nurse. Eomans, 't is false ! She is the promis'd spouse Of your Icilius. 1st Git. Cneius, hear'st thou that ? [to 2d Cit. Unhand the girl, [to Marcus.} Thon art known. 2d Cit. For Appius' pimp. Tread down the dog ! Marc. She is my slave Come on [dragging Virginia. Born of my slave. Enter ICILIUS and NUMITOKIUS. A shout from the crowd. Icilius! 2d Cit. [as Icilius, still without speaking, hurls Marcus across the scene. That is it ! Brave Eoman ! Va. Lucius, must it all come true ? Icil. Think better of the gods, Virginia. Cheer ihee. Xone can molest thee, now. Come home. Behold ! Here is thine uncle, and thy husband's arm ACT II. SC. 3. 117 Is folded round thee. A Matron. Husband ! Hear, Drusilla ! Shame on the coward ! Icil. [moving with Va. through the throng.} Thanks, kind friends. Marc. Icilius, What means this violence ? Open, if thou wilt, Thine eyes still wider, and bite through thy lips ; Thou canst not stare me from my rights, nor frighten. Num. Thy rights ? Icil. Let him speak on. Marc. My rights : the right Of every Roman citizen to his own goods. The girl 's my house-ware, [extending Aw arm to take Va. Icil. Liar and slave ! [striking him his left arm still around Virginia. Take that ! Tool of a tyrant's lust ! stretch thou one finger To touch this virgin, I tread thee into clay, And hurl the carrion on thy master's throne To make his footstool ! Come, Virginia, come. Mare. Not yet. Nor words, nor blows, make null my rights. [making a sign to Appius, who sends forward two lictors. I appeal to the tribunal. Come. Icil. Go then, Virginia, with thy uncle. I must stay, And front the tyrant. Marc. No ! the girl goes not. Lictors ! 118 VIRGINIA. 1st Lie. Back, citizens ! What means this clamor? "Who breaks the public peace ? Marc. I claim my slave. Icil. Thou foul-mouth'd villain! Romans! freemen! brothers ! Ye know me ; I have never spoken false. This is Virginias' daughter ; on her finger This ring I gave her speaks Icilius' spouse. She has no mother, now ; for you, her sire Offers his bosom to your enemies' knives. Ye will not suffer that a maid so lone, So unprotected, one whose boast it is She is made of clay like yours, plebeian mould 14 [The people murmur. Marc. Lictors, your office ! Let him not speak treason. 2d Cit. Treason, to be of the people ! Hear him out. Finish, Icilius. Icil. You are not so abject, As let this maid, whose cradle was as your?, Your daughter, and your sister, orphan'd too, Because her sire defends your household-gods And her poor mother wanders with the bless'd, Happy to know not this ! you will not suffer Icilius' promised spouse, Virginius' child, Blood of your blood, and freeborn as are you, You will not suffer her to be torn from 'midst you, To serve the lust of a patrician ! 2d Cit. No ! Down with the lictors ! Marc. Citizens, are you mad ? ACT II. SC. 3. 119 I ask but for a hearing. If my claim Be baseless, let him take the girl. 1st Cit. T is just. Let him have hearing. Icil. Just ! O fickle hearts ! Is 'tjust the claimant should himself be judge? Know ye not Num. Lucius, thon wilt ruin all. Hope in Virginius' coming, hope not now. See [glancing round on the people.], and believe resistance is in vain. Icil. Lead on. And yet I did put trust in you. [addressing the throng. I thought No matter. {They move up to the tri- bunal followed ly the crowd. 1st Cit. What could he expect ? The Matron. Were I a man, thou shouldst not want reply. Marc. Mighty decemvir ! this young Icil. Have a care ! If thou dare touch her, though it be the form, 15 Even in thy master's face I keep my word. App. Now by the manes 1 of my sires, thou vile ! [springing up in his seat. Marc. Hear, gracious ruler ! let me wave the form. I would not have the whiteness of my claim Spotted by violence. App. Then for thy sake, be't, Not his. Icil. For thine OAvn sake, thou ! Va. Lucius ! pity ! 120 VIRGINIA. For me ! for me ! TVouldst thou destroy me ? Num. Appius, I am the uncle of this maid : 't is mine To answer. Let the Assertor now proceed. Marc. This maiden, as the Koman law prescribes, I say is mine, and the possession in her Demand to be assign'd to me. Num. And I, By the same law assert her to be free, And as her guardian, in the father's room, Demand the right to lead her where I will. 17 App. Let the assertor unto servitude Make out his claim. Mare. Virginius Lucius, sire Suppos'd of this young maid, being in the wars, A child was born to him in Rome, which died ' Soon as it snuflTd the air. The selfsame day, A Volscian girl, my household-slave, gave birth To a female child, which promis'd well. Her sister, Midwife to both the women, mov'd to see The mother weep her young thus born to chains, Herself too sorrowing, plac'd the living babe On the free pillow, and took away the dead. Behold the false Virginia ! for the true Is dust. Icil. Is there a Heaven above us ? Num. Lucius ! Leave me to answer. See! Virginia faints! App. The case is plain. What hast thou to reply? Num. Did the false mother come, in after time, ACT II. SC. 3. 121 To know of this strange fraud ? Marc. Not till the child, Grown up in worth and beauty, had won her heart. Num. Nor told Virginius? Marc. Why disturb his peace ? He had come to love the darling as his own. 'T is thought, however, in her dying hour The truth came out. This we shall ascertain. Num. And hy the midwife and the mother-slave Thou hop'st to prove this ? Marc. And Virginius' self. Num. O monstrous fraud ! effrontery unmatched ! Hear, Appius ; hear, ye citizens ! I am Twin-brother of Virginius' wife, had ever Her most full confidence ; yet see ! her heart Kept this huge fact from me ! App. And is that all ? Num. Much to make wise men doubt. Hear, Romans, hear ! This man would cite the midwife, therefore living, A Volscian, and the sister of a slave. Known is it to me, to many and there stands Virginia's nurse who knows the midwife was A Roman, and is dead ! App. And is that all ? Icil. What wouldst thou more ? [resigning Va. to Numit. App. No evidence of thine. Let the pretended sire appear. Marc. Till then Possession in the girl remains with me. 6 122 VIBGINIA. App. That is but just. Assertor, take thy slave. [General murmur of indignation. Icil. Thou dar'st not ! by thine own law, dar'st not, tyrant, Decree this wrong ! Decision must be made, In such a suit, on the side of freedom. 1st Cit. Right ! It is the law. 2d Cit. He made it : let him keep it ! App. What know ye of the law, ye clamorous curs ? That Appius made it, proves that Appius leans To liberty and mercy. But this case Was not provided for. The general act Supposes equal litigants. Where such, Who stands for actual owner matters little ; But here it being the father of the girl, So call'd, the Assertor yields to only him. Pledg'd to produce her when he shall appear, 'T is fit he keep her now. It is decreed. Lictor, disperse the assembly. Va. [running to Icil.] Save me ! save ! Or kill me, Lucius ! Matron. Cowards ! do you hear her ? Num. [thrusting lack Marcus, ichile Icilius, clasping Vir- ginia with his left arm, covered with his mantle (toga), confronts Appius, and leaves lacTc with his right the lictors. Virginius' daughter ! who is now abroad, Fighting your battles ! [to the people. 1st Cit. The decemvir knows it. ACT II. SC. 3. 123 Lictors. [opposing their fasces. Decreed ! Matron. Where are your daughters? [again to the people.] 2d Git. Are we slaves ? Down with the lictors ! w Lict. Back! Matron. shame ! Lict. Bear back ! "It is decreed!" [The people yield, though sullenly, leaving Icilius, etc., exposed. Icil. I knew it. "When the judge And claimant are one, what else? Do ye see that wretch ? 'T is Marcus, Appius' client ; what besides, I shame, before this innocent maid, to speak. Ye murmur. "Well ye may, knowing what I mean. Is 't fit she should be trusted to such hands, Were Appius even guiltless? I had thought That honor was more dear to Eoman women Than life Matron. It is ! but Eoman men are cowards. Icil. That reverence for Lucretia could not die. [Movement in the crowd. Lucretia ! 'T is a name Matron. Blush, Romans ! [Movement becomes more tumultuous. App. Lictors ! %d Git. No ! he shall finish ; we will hear him out. [The crowd press on the lictors and force them lacTc. Icil. [turning to the tribunal.] Lucretia ! At that name, thou vile decemvir, 124 VIRGINIA. Dost thou not tremble ? Usurper like to Tarquin, Recall his fate ! But Collatiuus paid A price I will not; nor shall Rome's proud annals Tell of a second sorrow like to liis, Though they record like vengeance. Speak, Lucilla ! [to the nurse. This is no time for secrets. What thou knowest, Give 't to the people. Matron. Speak ! 2d Git. We will protect thee. App. [thundering to the lictors.] Ye dogs ! what are ye kept for ! Strip the fasces ! Scourge back the rabble ! 2d Git. Death to the lictors ! death ! The crowd struggle for the possession of the fasces. NUMITOKIUS, threatening M. CLAUDIUS, stands lefore VIRGINIA, while the NUESK supports her behind ICILIUS still sustaining her. App. Arrest the rebel ! Seize, bind, slay Icilius ! * 8 Marcus, secure the slave ! Tcil. On, Romans, on ! He dashes lack MARC. CLAUDIUS violently, consigns .VIRGINIA to NUMITOR., and, putting aside the lictors, makes directly for the tribunal. Strike for your freedom ! Twelve, against you all ? Trample them under you ! Leave to me the tyrant. App. To the tribunal, lictors ! guard the office. [The lictors retreat and form between the tribunal and Icilius. ACT II. SC. 3. 125 Citizens! Appius wars not upon you ! [The citizens re- main motionless, and Icil. stands once more exposed. Why, so ! Have ye forgot your reason ? Know ye not The ambition of Icilius ? Not for her, Ill-fated girl ! this tumult. 'T is sedition, Veil'd with the pretext of Virginius' cause. He would be tribune, and to found his power Make odious the decemvirate. But the people Shall judge between us. To Virginius absent, To liberty, to the paternal name, Yields Appius what your violence nor his Should wrest, entreats the Assertor wave his right, And, the decree revok'd, prorogues the trial. [Murmur of applause, Silence ! Icilius needs your tongues, not I. Once more to-day will Appius sit in justice, But, the sun down, Virginius not appearing, He gives the law its course, nor will he need To enforce it more than these, [pointing to the lictors. 1st Cit. So soon ; Virginius cannot come! 2d Cit. He knows that well. Icil. He thinks it, friends ; but let the tyrant learn, To his confusion, Virginius even now Is on his way. [A movement of great joy. Num. My son, that was not wise. See where the pander and his lord change looks! Marc. Be 't, great decemvir ; Claudius asks but justice. But who are surety that the girl appear? ' a 126 VIRGINIA. Enter VALERIUS and HORATICS. Vol. Lucius Valerius. (f rom behind the people, who < make way for them, with Hor. And Horatms, I ! ( demonstrations of joy. People. And I ! [holding up their And I ! right hands simultaneously] And all of us! VALERIUS and HOBATIUS, going up the scene, confront the decemvir a moment, then turn to ICILIUS, and his party. Vol. [to Icil.] We have heard Thy sad misfortune. But [in undertone and signifi- cantly] we came too late. Hor. [like manner.'] Hope. Icil. [to the people.] Thanks ! hut now, we shall not need you, friends. Impute to nothing mean these passionate tears : 'T is your love moves me mingled with despair Despair for liberty, when one man's power Can make a thousand offer me but love. Go to your homes. Wo, wo, for fetter'd Rome ! For Brutus's Rome ! wo ! wo ! [Exit (muffling his head) with Virginia, Numit. and Nurse the Natrons following them. The remaining Citizens move forward, and form a close group, which VALER. and HORAT., after seeing Icilius' 1 party off the Scene, join while MAEC.- CLAUD., ascending "behind the tribunal, is seen receiving in his ear some secret instructions from APPIUS. ACT II. SC. 3. 127 2tZ Git. It is a shame ! We are bound to assist him. 1st (Jit. But what can we do? Vol. [in a low, impressive tone.] Meet here again as many as you can, Before the trial. Icilius will harangue you. Then shall you learn what for yourselves to do, As well as him. Nor shall you want, to back you, Friends such as we. Hor. [same manner.] And should you chance to bring Arms hid about you, 't will not be amiss. Hush ! not a word ! Away, at once ! Val. Remember! 'T is the last chance for liberty and Rome. [Exeunt the people. VAL. and HORAT., looking at the decemvir and MARCUS a moment, pass slowly up the scene, and Exeunt. MARCUS descends, and comes forward. Marc, [in low tone.] Murder already ! Yet the knife may glance, And hit its owner. Wo then unto me ! "Who dare not flinch, yet tremble to obey. [Exit. App. Waits no one more for justice ? Lictors, move. [Rises, and, as he turns to descend, the Dropfalh. 2 " 128 VIKGINIA. ACT THE Scene L A mean apartment in the house ofLicia. MAEOUS CLAUDIUS. LIVIA. [Marcus just entering.] Liv. "What has detain'd thee ? Marc. Has revenge grown cool ? Liv. Cool ! If the damn'd feel half the pangs, that here, [pressing her heart. And here [her head.], consume me, since the sun arose To light my day of vengeance, then the gods Indeed are cruel. Think'st thou there he Furies ? Marc. 'T were best not ask me. 2 * [carelessly. Liv. Oh ! there must be such ! There must ! I feel it. My temples are on fire, Sear'd with their torches, and around my heart Their cold snakes coiling sting me to the core. 'T was my long agony ask'd, What detain'd thee. Marc. As thy pains balance, head for heart, thou need'st No comfort. "What I have to tell, may cool Perhaps thy head, or salve thy heart, or be, For aught I know, the scourge, that was forgotten In thy sweet list of ecstacies. My Livia, Thou 'rt very cunning ; but the virgin dnp'd thee, With her two days. Her sire is coming now. ACT. III. SC. 1. 129 Liv. Thou dost not think it ! thou sayst it but to plague me ! Coming ! Then fall the sure threads of my warp ! Marc. Of Appius', say ; for he alone is weaver. Thine ! thou dost little more than hand the wool. But hast thou lost thy question, What detain'd mo ? Liv. I care not now. What 's thy delay to me ? Marc. Much, if.'t was made to gather up those threads That now were dropp'd. Liv. By what means ? Marc, {in Tier ear, but loudly.] Murder. Liv. Murder! Oh, no ! [Recovering ; and eagerly. But of Icilius? Marc. Would it were ! My qualms were few then ; for my bones are sore. Liv. Not not Virginius ? Do not nod ! speak ! speak ! Marc. "Whom else? Why, how thou look'st! Virginius spurn'd thce, As if thou wert a toad. Liv. He did ! he did ! May his heart rot for it, inch by inch! But but I would not have him dead No, no ! no murder ! Not that I love him But he shall not die ! I am not yet so bad No, no ! no murder ! Oh! no, no, Marcus! no! Marc. Thou art very strange ! Thou 'dst have his heart rot, yet he shall not die! He must have wondrous insides. Liv. Do not mock me! G* 130 VIRGINIA. Is it not I that am the cause of all? I made thee note the daughter's beauty ; -- coming The girl was from her school ; and at my hint Thou spak'st to Appius, set his blood on fire, And now Virginius shall not die ! His life : Or the plot withers : I'll reveal it all ! Marc. And have thy carcase flung from the Tarpeian. Thou foolish, woman ! hear. By Appius' order, I have hired three villains to assault this man, On his way home. 'T is but a chance they meet him, A chance that they prevail Liv. But if they do, I will denounce thy patron to the people. By all the gods in Heaven and Hell, I'll do it ! Marc. Wilt thou ! I will not die alone. The people, Taught what thou art, shall tear thee limb from limb. What demon loos'd my tongue ? and to a woman ! But who had dream'd, that love ? Liv. Love ! canst thou mean Love for Virgiuius ? Love ? More deadly hate Never felt woman. I would kill his pride, Torture him piecemeal where he tortur'd me, But not kill Mm. Canst thou not see a difference ? Marc. A vast one. Thou wouldst murder inch by inch, A little every day ; with one blow, Appius Takes all of his enjoyment all at once. Wilt thou appear when call'd, and do thy part ? Liv. I will appear when call'd, and do my part As lives or dies Virginius. Thou shalt see. [Going. Marc. See that we tools, that carve the master's pleasure, ACT III. SC. 2. 131 Shall break our edges, and be thrown away. [Exit Lima. Torture his pride ! and piecemeal ! This is conscience! Make him supremely wretched but no blood ! Furies ? There may be, or may not ; but this Is sure; who made them female, knew what hands Might be entrusted with the whips of Hell. 23 [Exit but at opposite side. SCENE II. Room in the home of Numitorius. ICILIUS and VIEGINIA. VIRGINIA is seen leaning on ICILITTS' shoulder, her face hidden, in an attitude of distress. Icil. Gods, is this equity ? Must your thunder singe Alike the delicate shrub and branching tree ? I may not, and I have no thought nor will To impeach your justice; in this mortal heart, Frail and infirm of purpose, if ye have planted 132 VIRGINIA. Immutable love of truth, your deathless essence, Temptation-proof and unassail'd by fear, Cannot see right and wrong with equal eye : Yet spare this innocent child ! she is too young To bide those trials, which o'er maturer hearts, Grown callous with the storms of many years, Sweep without ruin, and but make them strong. O, it is hard ! Va. [looking up with surprise] Dear Lucius ! Do not weep ! Icil. Twice in one day these eyes ! I thought them stone To any private grief: but now their dew Drips over, spite of manhood. Va. Is there, then, No hope ? none ? Icil. Hope? It was Iloratius' word. Oh ! that there were ten men in all the people Like him and like Valerius, worthy both Of their immortal names ! Eome yet might breathe And shake this nightmare from her. Death ! to think Men should have heads and hands, yet fear to use them ! Be born erect, yet crouch like cattle ! Are there No Eomans left ? Va. Virgiuius is, my father. Icil. Yes, yes, they are all at camp. The air Of Eome is pestilence to Eoman virtue. But we will not despair; no, my Virginia! 'T were sin to doubt high Heaven. Va. Yet if my heart ACT III. SO. 2. 133 Have boded true and no help is in man Lucius wilt wilt thou Promise me O swear it ! Thou wilt not let Virginia fall alive Into those wicked hands ! O swear it, Lucius ! Swear that thy own dear hand shall send me pure Unto my mother ! Why art thou so still ? Thou dost not doubt my firmness ? Ml. Doubt it? No! No ; I was mute with adoration ; faltering, Because because How can I else but falter ? I cannot think 't would drive me to despair ! Thy bodements true. "We have done nothing, thou In thy most innocent heart couldst not conceive The thought of any thing, should bring down on us, On thee this horrible fate. Va. Thou mu>t not murmur. To the high gods man's individual wo Counts nothing, weigh'd with the common good of all. "When we were children, thou knowest, the parent's rule Seem'd often tyranny, and our transient pains Cruel, because we saw not, and seeing could not Eightly discern, the aim of their infliction. Are we not, Lucius, to the omniscient gods As little children, and our moans and murmuring Proofs that we are well car'd for ? Thou wast born Not of the kind to whom life brings but pleasure, And thy great soul, thus crucified to joy, 134 VIRGINIA. May from its agony gain gigantic strength For Eorae's deliverance. Icil. Speak on ! speak ever ! Not for my glory, but for thine : speak on ! Va. Nay, I am feeble, Lucius, and unapt ; But I am Roman; and in my woman's-breast A voice from Heaven cries, Murmur not, thy blood Shall fertilize the soil of Roman freedom, And seed there sown shall yield perennial fruit, Justice and wisdom, honor, single truth, Temperance and valor, and other goodly growth Of the tree whose smallest leaves send up to Heaven Ambrosial odors. Icil. And couldst thou, Virginia, Offer thy life new-garlanded with love, And wreath'd with fillets of all human joys That wait on innocent youth, thou good, thou fair, Dear to thy widow'd father, and for me O how to speak thee ! Couldst thou die, Virginia, Slaughter'd to free a most unthankful people, Whose hearts, ere yet the sacrificial fire Has dried thy Speak ! for I can not. Va. Whose hearts Will lose all trace of me ? Is duty measur'd By what it earns of gratitude ? Believe me, Dear as my life is, dearer now than ever For thy dear sake, I will not struggle once, If Rome demand the victim, and thy hand Swear thou wilt do it, Lucius! Icil. I do swear. ACT III. SO. 2. 135 As I would shed my own, my mother's blood, So she were living, and the good of Rome Call'd for the sacrifice. Icilius' word Should need no oath ; yet thou, beloved, I see it, Mistrusts him for his love's sake. Yet to him What wouldst thou be, wert thou no more Virginia ? No ! thou true daughter of the olden Rome, Not of the Rome of now ! if thou must die, Thus, in the yet shut flower of thy youth, I (I have less strength than thou !) if thou must die, For Rome, thy mother, thou shalt die, I swear it, Worthy of her ! Va. 'T is to die thy spouse, To die unstain'dj and fearless and die happy, So my last breath be gathered by thy lips. Icil. Thou shalt not die ! Rome is not grown so heartless ! Fathers and husbands are not so insensate ! Their arms must strike for me and for Virginias ! Our cause is one. Then, have we not our friends, Valerius and Horatius, and their friends Who are foes to Appius? Is the tyrant proof To what kills other men? Oh! we are mad ! We libel our fellows and asperse the gods, Desponding thus. Thou shalt not die, Virginia! Blood shall be shed, and for the good of Rome, But on the altars of the god of Hell, And the black gore drip downwards ! Come, Virginia, Seek we the hall. There by thy uncle's hearth, Whose tutelar-gods thy mother's childhood knew, 24 13() VIRGINIA. Await with him thy sire, while, new in hope, I speed to rouse the ashes of dead Rome. Let the black shadow from my heart now passing Be better augury, and thy own grim omens Vanish like dreams. Va. Dreams ! But thy vow remember. [Exeunt. SCEXE III. A room in a diversorium, or road-side inn, near Some. ViRGixir/s, QtiisTtrs ICILICS, OAIUS NUMITOKICS. Virg. Enough of rest. Let us make onward, boys. [draws his hood 25 over his head. Yet my heart trembles, as I near the town. My daughter ! my Virginia ! Who is that ? C. Num. Uncle, a slave of Appius the decemvir's, His messenger. How hot the fellow looks! Q. Icil. Some pressing matter. Virg. With some wicked view. ACT III. SC. 3. C. Num. He sees and slums us. Virg. 'T is a wonder, that. His master's slave should not have modest scruples. Call him in, Caius. C. Num. Tabellarius ! friend ! Enter MESSENGER. Mess. Save you, my masters. Virg. Com'st thou from the town ? Mess. In all haste from the great decemvir. I seek The camp at Algidum scarce pause to breathe. Virg. The camp! What is there toward? Not peace, I trust. Mess. I know not. I 've no verbal charge but these : To see myself the general, Marcus Sergius, And shun there one Virginius, a centurion. VIRGIJJIUS draws the hood closer over his face. QUINTUS and CAIUS exchange looks and turn hastily to Virgin. which the slave observes. You know Virginius, then ? [to the youths. Virg. They do. But I Know him far better. Mess, {uneasily andmoving to go.] A friend, perhaps? Virg. Why, scarce. From my birth up, he whom thou call'st Virginius Has been my fatalest enemy. Good friend, VIRGINIA. We arc just from camp : wouldst thou declare thy message 'T would please us greatly this for thy refreshment [handing him money. And none can teach thee how to shun Virginius, So well as I. Mess. Did I but know thee, master Yet 'Tis but this, [showing the tablets. Virg. On tablets ! O rare haste ! Now would I give the world to know thy news. Trust me, my friend. Thy master, were he here, "Would own the Fates themselves had sent these letters Into my hands. Come, let me see them. Boys, [giving C. and Q. money. Take this good man within, and let the victualer Give of his best. Mess. Thou art so generous, master [suffering Virg. to take the tablets. And yet No, no. C. Num. Come ; thou hast little time. Mess. And that is true. Virg. "Why, man, thou need'st not fear. Would I dare trifle with thy great decemvir ? Is he not Appius? Go. [Exeunt the youths and Mess. My fears compel me. [opening the tallets. Reading.'] " Appius Claudius to his colleague, Marcus Sergius, Health. Keep, any way, at camp Lucius Virginius, till the third day after ACT III. SC. 3. 139 The messenger's return." O too just fears ! My child ! my child ! But 't is no time to grieve. [Takes from its case Ms style, and rulling over, with the broad end, the wax of the tablets in two plates, writes over the places with the point. Now it reads better : Keep the messenger ; And the "return" goes with Virginius 1 name. The third day after that, is long enough ! 26 Re-enter hastily The MESSENGER, followed, ly CAIUS and QUINTUS. Mess. Give it me back ; I cannot eat for fear. "Why how ! Thou hast chang'd the writing ! Virg. Slave ! dost dare ? Mess. Pardon me. Oh! this place has been rubb'd over! Nor look the words the same ! Virg. How shouldst thou know ? 'T is as it. should be. I disturb'd the wax, And then re-wrote it. There is not one word Bat what stood there at first. Knows Konie not Appius ? Is my life nothing ? Go. Thou losest time. [Exit Messenger. And we too,, sons ; our steeds are not the wind. My daughter ! G. Num. "What has chanc'd ? Thou art so pale I Virg. I'll tell tlieo on our way. Rome ! Rome ! 140 VIRGINIA. My child! Accursed tyrant! Boys, Ye have heard Virginius lie like any slave. C. Num. Lie, uncle ? Virg. Yes : what is it to deceive ? The words are nothing; 't is the intent alone Makes them or true or false. That beaten slave Had been but politic ; but I, a freeman, A Roman, and a soldier, cannot use Ulysses' craft without both sin and shame. Learn that of me ; and be this cheek your monitor. Yet oh, my daughter ! 't was alone for thee ! Tyrant, I'll have thy life ! Come, boys. My child! [Exeunt. ACT IV. SC. 1. 141 ACT THE FotTETH Scene L A part of the Forum. ICILIUS and PEOPLE. Icil. Children of Romulus ! But I would rather, So ye will suffer it, call you Brutus' children; For Brutus was your better sire ; to him Ye owe it, that you stand not simply now Where the first plac'd you, subjects of a king, But your own sovereigns when you dare be such "Which is not always. 2d Git. That is over plain. Icil. When was truth otherwise, to those whose conscience Fears her reproaches ? If ye dare to rule, Why serve ye ? I will tell you. As the steed, Broke to the bit, forgets the natural power Which, us'd, would fling his rider headlong, so Your mouths are bitted 2d Git. Fy ! we are not brutes. Icil. The horse is valiant, generous, faithful : why Shame ye to be his parallel ? In the fight, Shrinks he with terror ? When the trumpet sounds, His eye darts fire, and his spread nostrils snort. Yet lo ! astride him are the master's limbs. Ye fight too for your leaders whipp'd and curb'd. 'T is habit with yon both, which makes this mastery 142 VIRGINIA. Seem like a part of you. But let volition Swell your big muscles to their natural force, 'T is lord and steed no longer. 2d Cit. And no longer Shall be so ! "We are Komans Brutus' children. Icil. I hope so. But be still. Icilius loves Your voices, as the tyrant said ; but now He wants your hearts. Time was, when public rights, Invaded, spoil'd, extinguish'd, were alone Icilius' only sorrow : - 7 the bitter stream Flow'd pure, as from one source. Now, private grief Mixes its current with the popular flood, Made tenfold bitterer, but no longer pure. 1st Cit. "Why so, Icilius ? there are husbands here. 2(Z Cit. None the worse patriots, that they love their wives. 28 Icil. True, 't is the aggregate of personal griefs Makes general sorrow, and the love of country Is but a loftier love of self: yet 't was Icilius' pride (man has no right to pride, And the gods punish it), no selfish care Peer'd through his zeal for freedom. You all have heard 2 9 1 seek to restore the tribunes : Appius said it : And I avow it. Avow it ? I proclaim it. 30 Alas for me ! their power suspended trials. fatal day ! big with Rome's servitude, And death to me ! when, to secure you laws, Ye gave up all for which the laws were made, Setting these Ten above you, without appeal ! Down went the Tribunes ; and rose up, more thick Than ever your host of wrongs. "What were you, what ACT rv. sc. i. 143 You are, I have said : strong steeds that bear a rider, Fighters of battles, whose cost is all your own, Whose glory the patricians' ; yet more safe Amid your enemies' darts, than here, where bonds And outrage make the horrors of the field Sweet as a bride-bed. Is the day so old, "When the brave soldier from his prison burst, Haggard with famine, bleeding with fresh stripes, Made bare his mangled back, where the sharp spine Stood out uncover'd for the creditor's lash Had stripp'd the fell starvation spar'd, and shriek'd For vengeance ? 2(Z Cit. And our fathers heard him. Icil. Ay. Mad with their wrongs, they nigh had crush'd the senate, But mark ! they did not. And the consuls promis'd, (The Volscian war was imminent ;) and the people, Believing is there aught ye '11 not believe, Ye credulous fools! rush'd hither in vast crowds, To take the oath, and get reprieve from bondage Fear'd worse than death. They fought; and when they had conquer'd, Volscians, Auruncians, both, then Appius Claudius, Meet grandsire of the man who now would violate The citizen's dearest rights, nor those alone, But even of Nature's self this Appius, scorning His colleague's promise, drew again the gyves On the starv'd debtor, and once more the lash And workhouse were the recompense of valor 144 VIRGINIA. And balm of wounds. Nay, save your groans. What follow'd ? Why did the legions cross the Anio ; there, With ditch and rampart fortify the Mount, And leave Kome to her terrors? Was it not, Again they had been deluded, though again They had fought and conquer'd ? when, for very shame, The incens'd dictator (he was a Valerius, Not a Claudius) threw his office up. But glorious secession ! which taught the proud The uses of the humble, and obtain'd For the state's task-worn drudges their own magistrates, The sacrosanctity of whose office yielded Resort against oppression ! Yet again The thunder of the Veto shall be heard ! I hear its distant rumble in the clouds Which black the sky of freedom ! and its bolts May more than purge the air. 2d Cit. Be 't ! Let them strike ! 1st Cit. We will secede again. Icil Secede? 2d Cit. Ay, now. We want our tribunes. Icil. Surely, ye are mad. Talk of secession ? Then ye Lave forgot What your Sicinius paid to speak that word? 1st Cit. No, no ; we have not ! Icil. And to whom ? 2d Cit. Nor that. Murder'd by the decemvirs. ACT IV. SC. 1. 145 Icil. Say, by Appius. The Ten are but the fingers of one pair Of active hands ; and that one pair is Appius. Murder'd by Appius ; but for whose strong will The fingers never could have clutch'd his life. Let me recall the atrocious deed. 'T is true, Not many moons have wan'd since, and the fact Mainly is unforgot ; yet Time keeps wearing, "Wearing ever the sharp impression down, Whose lines must be retouch'd to con it fair. "What was Sicinius' crime ? He spoke as I, As you are doing. Must the tongue wear fetters ? Is thought, which has no substance for the chain, The only natural right the free have left, The free, so call'd, of Borne? The man was one Worthy the name of man; and all true men Are fear'd of tyrants. So, at Appius' nod, The generals sent him with a show of honor 1st Git. Traitors ! we know it. Icil. Ay ; but hear. They sent him To explore the enemy's ground, and choose a camp-site. At a fit place for their design, the train, A century full 't is said, fell on the hero. 1st Cit. He was a hero ! Icil. Of a hundred fights ; The winner of a score of civic crowns, Besides as many others ; and his breast, Broad as the sea-god's, was one scar with wounds, Eeceiv'd for you, for liberty, for Eome. 146 VIRGINIA. 1st Git, We will avenge him ! 2d Cit. Life for life! [amid a tumult of voices, and the crowd swaying, as with one impulse of the same emotion. Icil 'T is just. But hear me out. He was a hero. Heroes Submit not tamely to be butcher'd. More, He was a freeman ; and his hundred foes, Though Romans too, were voluntary slave?, Traitors and tools of tyrants. "With his back . Against a rock, the freeman and the man Enter VALERIUS and HOBATITJS. Bore up against the whole of Appius' slaves. 1st Cit. He was a Codes ! Zd Cit. An Horatius-Cocles ! Hor. Go on, Icilius : and you [to Citzs.}, mark the issue. Icil. Fifteen he slew, and on their bodies heap'd A score of wounded, if the count be true ; For as I told you, though they were all Romans, He was a Roman freeman, and they slaves, The slaves of your Decemvir. So they clomb The steep behind him, and upon his head Rolling unseen huge fragments of the crag, Finish'd their work. [Tlie crowd again sways to and fro, with a deep murmur. Vol. And sent the heroic soul To wander on the spirit-shore, complaining ACT IV. SO. 1. 147 lie still is unaveng'd. 2d Git. But shall be so No longer ! and* others \ simu ltaneou#ly.] No 1 no longer ! [TJiey raise their right hands with a vehement and threatening gesture, and are moving up the scene. Eor. Say you so? Come on ! 2d Git. On with Horatius ! Icil. Stay ! 2d Git. No, on ! Liberty and Icilius ! Death to the tyrant. \T1ie crowd take up this last cry. Icil. Friends, are you mad? Horatius! Is this wise ? Hear me a moment. Hor. And so give them time To cool and tremble. \The crowd pause, and begin to form again about Icilius. Vol. Quite as well as burn In their own fire. Hor. What matters, so their foe Burn with them ? Vol. They 'd not think so ; and their foe Is little likely. "Would not all our order Take part with Appius ? But Icilius speaks. f Icil. Romans, 't is not I doubt you ; but the blow Must be both sure and sudden. Appius now "Would be prepar'd, and in a moment girt "With all his friends ; but here, alone amidst ye, 148 VIRGINIA. An easy prey. Here then, where flesh'd in crime The assassin tyrant would enact the ravisher, The Tarquin of man-murder stand proclaim'd, By his own mouth, the Tarquin for whose lust "We who have wives and daughters must find food, Here, for our wives and daughters, let us strike, And by one blow free them, ourselves, and Eome. 11CK.\ We will, we will! Ml. Think on Sicinius butcher'd ; And when the assassin, in the face of Jove, Fronting his Capitol, dooms to greater wo The good Virginius, and his child, and me, Think on your own Virginias, and remembering That ye are Junius Brutus' children, strike ! 2d Cit. Remembering we are Brutus' children, strike ! And the crowd moves slowly up the scene, cldming in with 2o CIT., at the word " Strike !" Halting, they watch from the "background, the conference between HOE., VALEK., and ICILIUS. Hor. 'T is spoken well, Icilius. But how long "Will those flat ears retain the eloquent sound ? Thou shouldst have let them, when the arm was up, Strike. Icil. If the blow had swerv'd, what then? Their chains , Were riveted for ever. Give the mass The deep self-interest which impels the man, You make them constant ; but, till this be done, The impulsive power never has that force Which crushes obstacles. The foes of Appius, ACT. IV. SC. 1. 149 In bulk, might bury under them his friends : Why do they not then do it? Vol. Justly said. 'T is only here, i' the Forum, where the wrong Done to Virginius shall new-point their rage For their own daily wrongs, and Appius' measure Of insolence and crime, already brimming, Flow over, the popular courage will make head Against habitual terrors. Hor. We shall see. When cool'd the metal, vain the workman's art To shape it to his wish. Icil. Wilt thou, Horatius, With thine own fire, maintain what heat is now, Keeping the iron ductile ? I must go To seek Virginius. Hor. What my breath may do, Depend on : but trust more the scanty time, And Appius' own imprudence. [Goes up the scene, and beckons to the crowd, who gather round him eagerly, while he appears to harangue them. Vol. Which shall have Full sweep. Be it mine to keep back Spurius Oppius With his twelve fasces. Courage ! for this day Koine will be free. Icil. I feel it ; yet, would Heaven, I were assur'd 't would cost me merely life ! 3 1 [Exit. VALEEIUS, looking thoughtfully after him a moment, Exit at opposite side ; and the Scene changes the dumb-show in the background still continuing. 150 VIRGINIA. SCENE II. The Atrium of the home of Numitorius. VIRGINIA and VIEGINIUS, meeting. At a little distance, following Virginia, NUMITORIUS. * Virg. My child ! my child ! But thou as yet art safe, As yet my virgin daughter ! Jove himself Inspir'd thy timely summons. 'T was for Eome, As well as thee. Va. Heaven's providence. I knew not The oppressor's cruel purpose ; but, each day His insolent importunities increasing, I could no more keep silence ; and I fear'd To [turning her head in the direction of the door, as listening] to invoke It is his step ! Virg. Icilius'? Thine ears are wondrous quick. Nay ! 'tis a love Thou hast no right to blush for ; and the eve, (Be it to-morrow,) that shall make thee his, Benders thy sire the proudest in all Eome. 32 Va. Alas! Enter ICILITJS, Icil. Virginias ! father : happily come ! Virg. Lucius, my son ! Is Eome dead to all honor ? Icil. They that are dead to freedom have no honor. The people stood around, and saw thy daughter, ACT IV. SO. 2. 151 Icilius' promis'd spouse, pronounc'd a slave ; And the foul mouth that dar'd the insult breathes. Honor ? where rule ten tyrants ? Virg. Patience, son. Icil. Look on this maid. Though Chastity had fled All other shrines, were not her temple here ? 33 Feel that this innocent being is thy child Past any doubt ; then hear that Appius' pander Laid his polluting finger on her body, Asserting servitude, and ask of me, "Whom thou hast honor'd with this precious gift, Patience. Virg. To nerve thy arm for surer vengeance. Passion defeats its motive, and the blood, It forces to the vision, clouds its aim. He, who with fury would avenge a wrong, Flings off his buckler, and with naked breast Assaults a foe who carries sword and shield. But see, thy sister, with my nephew, comes. Enter IOILIA, with 0. NFMITOEITTS. Virtuous Icilia ! my dear daughter's pride ! How much I owe thy counsel ! lea. This alone : That it has follow'd where her heaven-wrought impulse, "Wiser than simple reason, led the way. But thou art come, her sire, belov'd of Borne 152 VIRGINIA. And honor'd ; and that sadden'd brow shall clear. Justice no more shall lend her snow-white pall 34 To hood Oppression, or the hand of Truth Shall strip it off the borrower. But, poor child ! [observing Virginia, w7io stands in an attitude of sad submission, showing the resignation of a pious but dejected mind. Her heart is terror-shaken, and the voice Of Hope is answered by no joyous beat. Virg. Cheer thee, my daughter ! when my proofs are heard, Even lust and tyranny will shame to answer, And the rous'd Forum thunder with our triumph. Icil. Or if that tyrants know not, as I deem, The sense of shame, its temple-walls shall shake With thunder that is more than sound. Virg. Thou mean'st ? [eagerly. Icil. The people are at last a\vake. The voice, That dooms to slavery the free of Rome, Has struck on their drngg'd senses ; and the sun Now going down will pour his level ray, Not on a cringing crowd, and in their midst, Bound to the altar of a tyrant's lust, This innocent victim, but the o'erthrown tribunal, And Rome's last tyrant making with his blood Atonement for her violated laws. Virg. Thy brows are knitted, and thy bearded lip Gather'd within its fellow, and thine eyes Burn with a fire too steady for mere rage ; ACT IV. SC. 1. 153 And Publius' own are fulgent with new hope. 35 It must be so. O joy ! The people then ? leil. Champ on the bit, and hardly were rein'd in. Horatius would have driven them on at once, And ply'd the lash. But 't was too dread a risk. 'T is on the trial, when the blow is sure, Their rage shall work. Virg* Be welcome then the trial ! Rome was my mother, ere thou wast my child, Virginia. Va. And what mother has thy child But Eome ? Virg. Do ye hear this, eternal gods ? Your thrones are bas'd on everlasting right : Ye will not suffer virtues like your own To be the sport of vice. Va. [to Icilim, where they stand ajxirt.] Alas, my father ! He sees not, were my virtues truly such, They have no place on earth ! leil. For pity, hush ! Num. 'T is not to be the sport of vice, when vice, Outraging virtue, proves but Heaven's touchstone To assay its gold ; nor will affliction, brother, "Which is the fire to purify that gold, Be suffered to confound it with the dross. Va. Except to achieve some mighty good, whose weight Makes the pure ore rise flimsy as the dross. "What is Virginia, that Virginia's wo, If instrumental to the general joy, 7* i 154 VIRGINIA. Should move Heaven's pity ; when even to herself Its bitterness would be welcome ? Virg. O my child ! Thou griev'st and gladd'st me equally. The gods "Will not desert thee ! Icil. Nor shall man. The fire, Thy wrongs have stirr'd, Horatius' eager breath Will not permit to gather-o'er its ashes. Virg. And I have what shall fan it to a blaze. Caius, thou hast been long o'erlook'd. Thy friend, The brave young Quintus, how appears he now ? [Icil., Virginia, and Numitorius, but especially the former, show earnest attention and surprise. 0. Numit. The wound proves but a slight one, as thou saidst, Good uncle. Tea. And the foolish boy so proud To have gain'd it, and in such a cause, I doubt Its speedy scarring will much please him. Icil. Wound ? And Quiutns ? What is this ? Virg. A fan, of two, Kept for the fire we speak of. Wait their blast. To hear it now, thy rage would know no bounds. Gentle Icilia, and thou, boy, be close : Even prudent Numitorius must awhile Content him with like ignorance. My son, The awful moment whatsoe'er our fate Must be at hand. 'T is fit we part. Go thou, ACT IV. SC. 3. 155 Mix with the people, and their wavering mood Make steady with thine eloquence : their ire Must take from thy strong passion keener edge. Most kind Icilia, who art come, I feel, To be heside thy friend, go with her, And let Lucilla robe her in the garb In which she mourn'd her mother. I myself Will borrow of thee, Publius, some mean mantle, Whose sordid folds accord with my distress. Come, we must soon be summon'd. + Va. Father ! \looTcing from him, and stretching her arms to Icilius. Virg. Yes ; Embrace, my children. Thou all-seeing Jove, [spreading his hands over them, as Icil. clasps Virginia to his hreast. Whose awful eyes look down with love and pity On this most innocent pair, let their woes Here end forever, and this last embrace Be but as parting on a gloomy eve To meet a cloudless morrow ! A single and loud dap of thunder rolls over the scent, and shakes the walls. VIRGINIA and ICILITTS part instantly all present listening with horror as the sound dies away. C. Num. [clasping his hands in terror.] Merciful Heaven ! 'T was on the left ! 156 VIRGINIA. Va. [to Icil.] Thy promise ! Icil. It is vow'd. VIRGINIA and ICILIA Exeunt at one side, while, in the opposite direction, ICILIUS, muffling his head in his mantle, Exit hurriedly. VIRGINICS, burying his face in his hands, remains in his posi- tion, supported by NuMiroEirs, while CAIUS seems to cower with fear, his face still upraised to the roof, and his hands locked together. The Drop falls. ACT V. SC. 1. 157 ACT THE FIFTH Scene I. A part of the Forum. M. CLAUDIUS, going up to LIVIA, who enters. Marc. Thou art here. Liv. But is Virginias ? Palter not ! If he appear not Thou hast heard me. Marc. True, And need no echo. Till the girl appear, How can I answer thee ? Come on. Liv. No, here I wait my summons. Is thy patron come ? Marc. Behold ! [pointing off the scene. Liv. Even now ascending ; with an air As if earth would not suffer him to fall. Yet he may down. Marc. Perchance. But, being up, 'T were well to think that he may see us here From his high place, and bid me drag thee thither. Liv. That thou may'st do ; but canst thou make me speak ? Nor thou, nor thy decemvir. Here I stay. "When the sad father passes with his child, I follow. If he fail, thou want'st me not. MAECUS, regarding her steadily a moment, Exit when LIVIA, who has returned his look, draws her mantle over her head, and the Scene changes. 158 VIRGINIA. SCENE II. Another part of the Forum. A. LTJCEETIUS ; T. QUIXOTICS ; L. VALERIUS. Vol. Titus, behold ! our Jove is on his throne ! See where his subject mortals group around "With looks that would affright more vulgar gods. Lucr. Not without cause. Why, Lucius, look again ! Veil. By Hercules, thou art right ! The lictors' rods Are chang'd for spears ! their heads are helm'd ; and, see ! "What glitters on their breasts in the sun's rays ? Does simple wool shine thus ? What say'st thou now, Thou lukewarm Titus ? Aims yon sceptred hand To grasp the kingly diadem, or no ? Amis ; for he shall not reach it ! no ! his arm, Or mine, shall first drop nerveless. Quinc. All my hopes Thou knowest are with thee. Yet I still must doubt. His friends are legion ; and his foes Vol. A host. Quinc. Of [pointing disdainfully off the scene. Vol. Men, good as his foes : at least, as strong ; For I see Aulus little likes the praise. Lucr. My tastes are in abeyance till the issue. I doubt your commons will not be too sage After their victory, and foresee the day Their tribunes will usurp a power, might make Even Appius blush. But, for the nonce, your mob ACT V. SC, 3. 159 Shall have their way unless those dozen spears Cool their intent. My friends are posted : Appius Will cry in vain for succor. Veil. Part we then. Keep Quinctius. [in undertone.] Liberty ! [going off. Lucr. The senate's rights ! [Exit with Quinc. in opposite direction, and Scene changes to SCENE III AND LAST. The Forum, as in Act II, Scenes 1 and 3. APPIUS, on the tribunal, holding his sceptre of office, and sur- rounded by his Lictors armed. Behind the tribunal are seen other soldiers ; an near him, hut a little behind, a Messenger attending. MARCUS CLAUDIUS. A Her- ald or Crier. P. NUMITORIUS ; C. NUMITORIUS ; Q. ICIL- rus his arm in a sling. Citizens. Enter VIEGINIUS, in an old and soiled toga, leading VIRGINIA, in a mourning-cloalc, h her head muffled with the same. Be- side Va. walks ICILIUS, and behind her ICILIA and the Nurse; a train of Matrons, weeping, follow immediately, and, at a little distance, comes also LIVIA. 160 VIRGINIA. App. [starting.] Virginias ! Traitor ! [to Marcus, in an undertone, Virg. And to thy dismay. Hear, Eornans ! hear what Num. Patience, yet awhile. [Marcus, at this moment, gives a signal to Appius, ly looking quickly and significantly at Livia. Lose not what little chance thou mayst have left For a fair trial. App. Trial thou shalt have Though the tribunal might be spar'd it, sure Beforehand the defence is futile all, Or mere imposture. [Murmur in the People while Nu- mitorius is seen restraining Icilius. Silence there, ye frogs ! If ye 'Id not have ine fling a stone among ye, Or drain your filthy pool, since undisturb'd Ye croak thus ! Herald, rise. And let the Assertor Bring on his proofs. Num. [indicating to Icil. and Virg., while the Herald steps out, the evident and dbep resentment of the people. The pool heaves like a sea. More of this insolence, and we are safe. Herald. Silence ! [Marcus leads up Lima. Marc. Behold the mother of , the slave. Icil. Let her unhood. And thou, Virginius, mark ! Virg. Li\ ia ! Slave ? the mother free ? [to the people, with an expression of scorn and indignation. App. Be still ! Else here are those shall make thee. And, observe ACT V. SC. 3. 1C1 When 't is thy time to speak, to us, thy judge, Turn that bold visage. "Woman, now proceed. Enter HOEATIUS, behind the crowd, and, mixing with the people, is seen earnestly exhorting them. Lit). A plain tale, great decemvir. I was slave To Claudius, when Virginias, here in presence, Had knowledge of me. Witness that, his child, Born of our commerce, on his dame impos'd For her dead babe, to save his blood from thraldom. f This let Virginias, if he dare, gainsay. His love for me is known. Virg. And they who know it Know that I freed this woman, for that love. She was my captive, brought from taken Antium. I lov'd her honestly ; ('t was ere I had met Thy sister, Publius.) But, being taught in time Her falsehood with yon Claudius, plaintiff here, I flung her off, as I would fling a viper, [Livia draws her mantle again over her face. Never having known her in the way she says. 37 I swear it by yon Heaven, which now let down Its thunder on my sacrilegious head, If I swear falsely ! App. Yonder heaven is clear. The cloud is spent, whose solitary clap Late shook the Capitol, nor has Jove bolts To waste on such as thou. Vouch more profanely. Nor canst thou be a witness for thyself. 162 VIRGINIA. Icil. [advancing.] But I can, for him. [Horatius comes forward. Virg. And Virginius' honor, Like that of all true Eomans, is most fit To swear by, since thou settest nought by Jove. App. Thine honor, and his evidence, [indicating, &y a con- temptuous and slight toss of the Jiead, Icil.'] alike Weigh nothing here, where each has puissant cause To falsify. Numit. [adjuring Icil. and Virg. and putting himself in their way.] Yet, for Virginia's sake ! Hor. [restraining Icil. and Virg. ~by motion of the hand. But I Have none. T, for Virgiuius' honor, pledge My own ; and what Icilius may not vouch, That shall Horatius. [Murmurs of satisfaction in the crowd.] Yonder wretched woman Is either slave or free. A slave, she has No right to give her testimony, save By torture; free, she is perjur'd, and the suit Falls to the ground, and her vile life is forfeit. [Murmurs increase. But even if not, and could it he the child Of a free woman should be born a slave, Still is the witness worthless, for that I, Marcus Horatio s, know her lewd of life. This vouch I by mine honor, and in face Of the high gods ! [Burst of applause. App. What ! dare ye clamor, curs ? Who is Horatius, that his simple word Should make ye yelp thus, more than his, or hers ? ACT V. SC. 3. 163 HOT. Thine equal, Appius ! in all points but one, And in that one thy better ; nor dar'st thou, ~~* Spite the high place thou boldest over long, Make me the mate of such things. I have given My evidence. Impeach it, if thou canst ; If thou lik'st, swear me. 2d Cit. Ay, and let them swear ! He has not sworn, nor she. Hor. Nor has the judge. 'T is proper on all sides. 1st Cit. But make them swear. Give them a stone. Lit/. I am ready. [As she takes the stone offered T)y Marcus, Appius whispers the Messenger, who disappears.] If, from guile I tear false witness, may the day's dread sire, Even as this stone I cast away, so me Icil. [to the people.] Let her not proceed! Had she the right, As she has none, being woman, slave, and vile, Let her not swear ! Who could not do as much ? They who dare lie in Heaven's face, what risk they, Calling high Jove to witness to their truth ? Nor swear that valiant Eoman and true man,- Horatius. Such need no attest. Time was, That honor was to Eoman freeman what Hell's awful flood is to the gods, of oaths The dreadest, and their sworn or simple word "Was better than the bonds of other men, 164 VIRGINIA. But now [facing App.], since tyranny Las set its yoke On our curv'd necks like cattle App. Hast thou done ? Icil. Thou Lear'st. "We croucli like them, and tremble ; More bestial still than cattle, that we have tongues Which fawn, and cringe, and skulk ; and, honor now But little known, man trusts man's word no more, 38 But calls the Unseen, whose vengeance is remote. Thus they, who outrage Heaven by daily crime, Swear sooner than good men, having less to lose. Witness yon tool of your decemvir. Him, Give Mm the Jove-stone ? Cast-away of Jove, What recks he of a second hurling, so His carcass 'scape the throw decreed them here Who mock thus gods and men ; for 'scape it will People. N"o! Icil. Yes ; for who made the laws sits there, and breaks them Openly in your faces. I have done, [to Appius. Enter LUCEETIUS slowly, (keeping apart.) App. Insolent rebel ! It is such as thou, Who mock both gods and men, affecting justice, And making even religion but a stool To mount to station ; it is such as thou, Who turn yon rabblement to coward cattle, Making them crouch and lick the treacherous hand That smooths their coarse necks but to yoke them. Tremble ? ACT V. SC. 3. 165 "Was it an Appius in the Volscian war * That made them tremble, when the villains fled, Leaving my valiant sire ? whose soul, thank Heaven, I bear as well as name ! [The people are seen in violent commotion, HOKATITTS among them gesticulating in an animated manner, yet as if secretly. LUCRETIUS, a little removed, looks on. Icil. Even so. Quirites ! Children of Eomulus ! Ye have not forgotten 'T was Appius, this man's sire, whose soul he boasts, That scourg'd and gave to the axe your bravest soldiers, Pick'd men, and the centurions, basti nading So cruelly every tenth man of the rest, That hundreds died, whence, after, the rous'd troops Eefus'd to fight, so that their enemies jeer'd them ; Whereas w r ith Quinctius, Appius' kindly colleague, So ready were they then, these recreant legions, The .JSqui durst not even march by the camp ! [The commotion has increased, and now, with one wice. People. 'T is true! Icil. "Why do ye stand then? Come! [moving towards the tribunal, while the people rush forward, led l>y Horatius Lucretius taking no part. Appius makes a sign to the lictors, and they advance with ported spears, when the people halt.. App. Because I bid them. 106 VIRGINIA. Assertor Thee [to Icil.], and thy true Roman there, [indicating Horat. with like significance. Presently. Assertor, take thy slave. Va. [while the people, still led by Horat. rush boldly between her and the Lictors, Lucretius now moving, but slowly, with them. The Matrons press still closer to Virginia, and hem her round. Now, Lucius! Icil. All is not hopeless yet. See ! [indicating the people. Lucr. [advancing before the people.] Appius, stay ! Albeit cattle, the drove is over strong, Even for thy spears. App. [furiously.] Make way there ! Dastards! [to Lictors. Hor. On! On! App. Do your duty ! [Lictors attempt to charge. Lucr. Halt there ! we have horns. [pointing quietly to the crowd, several of whom have put their hands to their tunics. Appius, be wiser. Credit me, even now The shears close on thy life's thread. App. Rather thine, Thou recreant noble. People ! men of Rome ! I thirst not for your blood 2d Git. Why then those spears? App. Because of treason, plots r.gainst the State, "Whose head am I plots of Icilius. Wherefore Wear ye else hidden arms ? 3 8 Icil. Because of treason, ACT V. SC. 3. 167 Treason against the State, whose head thou art not, Except by usurpation. Such the law Of great Valerius makes deserving death. 39 {Turning rapidly to the people.] Brothers! children of Brutus ! what avails it Our fathers drove out kings ? And for what crime? There sits your Tarquin App. But thou stand'st not Brutus. 4 Lictors! Seize, slay Icilius ! Fa. Me ! rather me ! Save him, Romans ! Liter, [stepping between Icil. and the Lictors, while Virg. holds ~back his daughter, pressing her to his breast. Appius, art thou mad ? * 'T is the last time I move to shield thee. App. Thou ! Stand from the way : I would not shed thy blood. People of Rome! resistance is in vain. The majesty of justice shall not bow, Save o'er my fallen body. Look behind me, [The people, already not over ardent, are seen to falter, despite the efforts of Horatius. "Where stand twelve armed men to back these twelve ; And Oppius hears my summons for twenty more. Hor. Thou wilt not get them. App. [looking around in alarm.] How now ! Lucr. It is sure. Thou art beset on all sides, or. cut off 168 VIEGINIA. From other aid than these. Give justice way, Thou'rt safe at least from violence. App. Who but ye Are her impediments ? The sire was heard Prov'd nothing ; sentence was decreed. If still Eespondent have aught left to urge, we hear him. But, the next outrage ! Speak. Virg. And all give ear. I have two arrows left. Though the first miss, The next shall hit the mark. And thou, beware! [to App. App. Bend thy bow quickly, or I break the shaft. Virg. [turning Va. to face the people, uncovers Tier features. Daughter, unveil. [Pauses. A general burst of pity and admiration. The Matrons , 7 , t sob aloud. 1st Matron. O shame to Koman manhood ! "Will no arm strike for her ? Virg. I, I myself, With these hands took her up, this virgin, this Still tender girl, and plac'd her in my bosom. Her feeble cry, the soft clasp of her fingers, Whose little fold just met around my thumb, Are present to my soul as fresh as then. O Romans fathers ! mothers ! ( she alas ! Has none none now ! ) say, are these feelings proper To me alone ? or speak I what all know, Have felt as I? People. > A1] Matrons. $ A11< ACT V. SC. 3. 1 69 Virg. Could I feign these feelings ? Or does my language witness Marc, [interrupting him.] N"o one doubts The emotion, nor the truth of him who vaunts it. But I say, Romans and I too dare address ye As fathers and ye mothers too, and wives These feelings are delusive ; for the true Virginia expir'd, ere almost she had cry'd, And this, the false, Virginius never took Up to his bosom never to avow her, Though he have clasp'd her there a thousand times, And fancied 't was the babe he had so rais'd. Num. [eagerly.] Virginius then had no part in the cheat ! Marcus and Livia contradict each other ! App. But little ; for the main points are the same. 41 Virg. [looking round upon the crowd and seeing the impres- sion made by Marcus. That shaft has miss'd. And yet I deem'd the point Had pierc'd the heart of every Roman, at least Of every Roman mother through and through, As if they were but one, I shot so straight. Covering her features again, he consigns VA. to ICILIA, who supports her as before, and the Matrons instantly close round them. 1st Matr. There are no Romans ; our degenerate bowels Give birth to monsters, as Icilius said. Icil. Better be barren, or in tbe unshapen germ "Wither your bodies' fruit, than suffer travail, And give your paps to daughters, whose fresh bloom Shall deck the slave-mart ! 170 VIRGINIA. 1st Hatr. Better wither all ! [And ike other women take up tlie cry, ' Wither all !" App. [to Virg.] Let fly thy other shaft. Virg. 'T is at thy heart. Come forward, boys, [to Caius and Quint. These youths were present, Romans, "When Appius' slave show'd tables from his master Bidding his colleague keep me at the camp For two days. [ APPIUS half-rises.'} Mark your ruler ! But I then "Was on my way. Nor is this all. Three villains, Hired to slay me, set on us near Rome Hor. Of the same sort that took charge of Sicinius [ Commotion, Virg. And would have earn'd their pay, but for our steeds, We being unarm'd ; and Quintus [pointing to latter ' arm.] barely 'scap'd. [App., turning quickly, speaks to the soldiers behind him. Icil. [who has listened with fiery impatience. Is this enough ? Now, sons of Brutus, strike ! [rushes forward, with his poniard drawn Horat. and Lucret., on either side of him, in same manner. 2d Cit. Down with the murderer ! 1st Cit. For our freedom, strike ! App. [pointing to Icil. as the latter turns about to encourage the people. Thrust, soldiers, there ! ACT. V. SO. 3. 171 Lucr. [putting aside a spear leveled at Icil. Stain to thy order, Appius I Lucretius fights now on the people's side. Hor. [same act.] I told thee so, Aulus. [Turning fiercely on the people^ who give way before the soldiers. Traitors ! what means this ? App. Death to thy hopes, Horatius. Soldiers, halt! People ! Icil. Rome ! O Rome ! 1st Cit. Icilius weeps ! Icil. [indignantly uncovering his face, which he had muffled. 42 Weeps ? for ye will not let him shed but tears, Even for liberty. 1st Cit. Yet Appius should be heard. 2d Cit. Perhaps so. But Virginias' tale App. Is such 43 A fiction. Appius stoops not to say more. lea. [hastily.] If 't be a fiction, O how like the truth ! Citizens, I myself have known, have seen, The importunities your decemvir offer'd, Even in the common streets worse still, the gifts Sent to this maiden, to this Roman girl Plebeian chastity being a thing to barter, Unlike Lucretia's. 1st Matr. Hear her ! App, Peace, ye trash ! [Icil. is seen to repress a violent emotion, lea. It is most strange, till Appius' lures had fail'd, His client's pretext never was put forth ! 172 VIRGINIA. App. "Woman, who art thou ? But I need not ask. Thou art the sister of the would-be tribune. Thy tongue, like his, has motive to be false. Icil. [passionately to the people. Must we bear this ? App. Much more, if 't be too light. Lictors, make room : strike none but who oppose. Once more, Assertor, take, as right, thy slave. Tlie People still stand between the advancing Lictors and the party that surrounds VIRGINIA, but give way, though slowly, sullenly, reluctantly, step by step, except the Ma- trons, who boldly oppose themselves to the armed men., and still hem her round. ICILIUS is seen approaching the group, his hand before his face. The Lictors, hesitating to stop him, look round to Appius/or directions. LUCRETIUS and HORATIUS, with their eyes on the Lictors, stand ready to sustain ICILIUS. Fa. Lucius ! Now ! now ! Icil. I come, Virginia. Virg. [to Icil.] Stay. Talcing VIRGINIA by the hand, he leads her by MARCUS (who, looTcing at ICIL., hesitates to oppose), toioards the tribunal, followed by the NURSE, and supported by ICILIA. [to Marc.] Thy hand withhold a moment. Appius, pardon The outbreaks of a father's grief; and suffer, Before I part forever from my child, I question her apart, her nurse, and friend, ACT V. SC. 3. 173 And put at rest niy doubts. App. We grant thy prayer. But be not long ; the day draws to a close. The light here suddenly falling, as at the going-down of the sun, the stage becomes gloomy. ViBGEftus etc. taTce their way to the shops, followed closely by ICILIUS, who is beckoned on ~by VIRGINIA. VIRGINIUS snatches a Tcnifefrom one of the open windoics. Virg. [stalling her.] My child, return unto thy mother. [Resigning her to the arms of lea. and Nurse, while Icil. hangs over her, and bran- dishing the knife. Appius ! To the Hell-gods, with this blood, I devote thee ! Marc. He has kill'd his daughter ! [Burstofhorrorfrom the People, while Appius rises upright from his chair. App. Seize on the murderer ! Virg. [rushing to the people with the Tcnife held up. Komans ! I have us'd a father's right, the law And nature gave ; sole refuge from pollution. Hor. 'T is just. Down with the lictors ! [striding down tJie foremost. 2d Cit. Death to the Tarquin ! [wresting Ms spear from the next. 1st Cit. [almost at same moment.] Throw Marcus and the woman from the rock 1 1 74 VIRGINIA. The Lictors and Soldiers, beaten down, staged, or their arms wrested from them, fly, MAKCUS and LIVIA with them some of the People pursuing. APPIUS, descending from the tribunal, towards which the rest are rushing, endeavors to escape. Throwing down the scaffold with its chair, they spring upon him, VIBGIXIUS (the Tcnife still raised) with them, followed by CAIUS and QUINTUS. NUMITOKIUS and the Matrons gather around VIRGINIA, who is "brought to the forepart of the Scene, the tumult and cries, and struggle against Appius, all the while continuing. 2d Cit. Down with the tribunal ! Hor. Leave to me ! Lucr. To me, The tyrant ! IOILIUS, pressing VIEGINIA a moment in Ms arms, springs after them, beating back the crowd to get at APPIUS, who, strik- ing down the foremost of his assailants with his scep- tre, flings it away, and draws his poniard. Ml. No! Back! back! App. To none ! [stabs himself. Appius dies worthy of himself and name And, dying, sends thee that, accursed dog ! Hurling the poniard at ICILIUS, whom it misses, APPIUS, muffling his head in his mantle, falls and expires. ACT V. SC. 3. 175 Icil. [dropping his own poniard.] 'T is better thus. [He returns, to hang over Virginia. Voice of Sp. Opvius ) T r i n i 2&Aw5r \ e sLa11 have com P an y- Enter VALERIUS and QUINCTIUS. Vol. We have heard. To escape the people, Spurius Oppius Has slain himself. Exeunt, slowly, and separately, in different directions, all the Citizens, save IST and 2o CIT., who s'>uid T>y the body o/'Appius, but looking on the party of VIKGINIUS. Va. [opening her eyes.} Is 't thou, Icilia ? Kind ! Where is my father ? Did I dream the joy ? Or is Kome liberated? Virg. 'T is at last, my child : But at what cost ! Va. I knew it. I am content. Yet, is it painful. Lucius my beloved Receive my last breath. Father, I die pure. 44 Virg. Thou diest a Roman ; and thou diest free. VIRGINIA, putting up her lips to ICILIUS, her arms extended to him, expires. 1 76 VIRGINIA. ICILIUS, having received her last breath, withdrawing his lips, resigns her to his sister, lifts his face a moment upwards towards Heaven, then muffles his head with his mantle. VIKGINIUS, turning aside his face, covers it with his hand. The NURSE is lying, gathered in a heap, at the dead girl's feet, with her face to the ground, wrapped in the skirt iroi/ciAoj/), such as the kings of the Lydians and Persians wore, except that it was not square inform like that, but half-circular : irKjjv ov TT pay uvo v ye -rtf > . And he adds immediately : TO Se rouuna rcav a/x^iao-juaTajj/ 'Pcauaiot fifi/ royas, 'E\\r)vts tie rrjPevvov Ka\ovcrw. {Antiq. III. 61. p. 187, t. i. ed. Hudson. Oxon. in fol. 1704.) t Among modern writers, Sigonius, * Winkelmann, who maintains that the form of the toga was round (" zir- kelrund geschnitten,") committed the strange oversight to find in the passage of Dionysius, presently cited, the adjustment or envelopment ( Umnthmen'), otherwise cast of the mantle described by the semi-circular outline, not its form. His commentator fails not to remark this error of perhaps a too rapid reading, or of the prejudice of theory or the near-sightedness caused by precon- ceived opinions ; and he adds : " Deutlich sieht man die halbzirkelformige Gestalt des Toga an den Statnen, wo sie zwey Enden (oder Winkel) macht, das cine vor, das andere hinter der Person, welche die Togatragt." GescJi. der Kunst des Alterlhums, Buch VI. c. 3 (Werke, 5r Bd. s. 72 u. 377. Dresden, in 8 1812.) t From that wonderful people, the Etruscans, the Romans, in all proba- bility, derived, not only the cnrule chair, the lictors and fasces, the purple and the painted vestment, and, I may add, the sceptre with its eagle, of their rulers, but also the toga, the prototype of which (in its rude and scantier shape, not in its perfection,) may be seen in certain monuments of that ancient race. See Tav. 31 in Ferrario : Costume, ant. t mod. vol. 5 (Firenze, 1828, in 8) p. 1G3. In another plate, Tav. 3. (t'6. p. 62,) we have a group of figures, well-drawn, of whick one wears a toga, or mantle corresponding thereto, the part over the left shoulder being grasped by the right hand, as if to bold it there, as is often seen with those who wear the Spanish cloak, (cf. Tav. 5. ib. p. 74.) But the VIRGINIA 183 (De Judiciis lib. III. c. 18. op. Graev. in Thesaur. Antiq. supra cit. vol. II. p. 814), gives us the choice between the semicircular and the quadrate form, though he appears to lean judiciously to the former, as the proper cut : " Toga amictus fuit exterior, a tegendo, ut scribit Varro, corpore appellata. Hscc fait lanea, semicircularis, tunica supe- rior, ad talos fluens, eademque aperta .... Semicircularem docet Diony- sius in Frisco, cum scribit, togam pictam amictum" etc. [as above] ; " et Isidorus libro xix. scribens, togam pallium, esse purum forma ro- tunda; mensura vero togce justce esse sex i/lnas." It will be observed that he does not remark the difference between the round of Isidore, and the half-circle of Dionysius. They are in fact, as I have tried to show, the same thing so far as the different amplitude of the garment allows it. " Contra vero quadratum fuisse monuit Athenaeus lib. 5, cum in- quit : Eomani in Asia, ut vim Mithridatis effugerunt, ad templa confu- gerunt, et, quadratis vestlmentis abjectis, pallia sumpserunt. Togas autem eas fuisse, Cicero indicat in Oratione pro Postumo : P. Rutilium, inquit, facilius certe necessitatis excusatio defendet, qui, cum a Mithridate Mitylenis ojipressus esset, crudelitatem regis in togatos vestitus mutatione vltavit, tie." See the whole chapter, which is full of interest and in- struction. However, without the supposed corroboration of Cicero, the citation from Athenacus would be obviously of no account, and I am not sure it would be difficult to explain away the testimony even of the former. It was one of the military cloaks that is intended by Athenaeus. centre and helmed figure, with the two lictors in tunics preceding him with their fasces, the first one holding also in his right hand a single rod, wears, if he rejiresent a chief Lucumon or Etruscan king, the trabea, with its stud or but- ton in the centre, which, by those who like the Abbe Magnetti {Cost. Elms., in Ferrar., vol. cit. p. 67.) consider the davits as such a stud, may be considered the origin of that ornament of rank with the Komans. Dionysius may have drawn on his imagination for the identity, in form, of the royal garment with the toga ; but it is sufficient for the argument, that he must have been familiar with the shape of the Eoman mantle, and that, doubly defining it, by its Latin and Greek name, he makes it to have been half-circular. 184 NOTES TO As Cicero, like other Roman writers, uses " toga" often figuratively for peace, and makes it the very emblem of public tranquillity and freedom from warfare,* he could mean, one would think, in employing in that passage the phrase togatos, but to express the gens togata, the Romans, as a people the object of Mithridates' hatred, not in that particular in- stance where it would be even absurd to suppose they wore the mantle of civil life.f Toga vero Eomani in face uiebantur, in bello paluda- mentis. ( Vet. Schol. in Pers. v. 14. where, as is often done, paluda- mentum is made synonymous with sagum.\) Toga as a phrase was * "Non dixi" [lie is speaking in reference to his use of the phrase Cedant arma togce] " hanc togam qua sum amictus . . . sed, quod pads est insigne et otii, toga." Oral, in L. Pison. c. 30. p. 70 Op. ed. Bipont. t. vi. Again, speak- ing of certain habitual ornaments of discourse, " togam pro pace." De Orator. III. 42. (p. 266 t. ti. ed.cit.) It is unnecessary to accumulate evidence of a fact so familiar ; I will add only, that in times of great danger, the Republic being in actual war, the man- tle was changed in the city itself for the scantier and less stately military cloak (sagum). See sub-note J. t Yet, taken in connection with what directly precedes it in the oration for Rabirius (" Fecerat temere," and so on, through the page, 144 t. vi, Oper. ; ed. cit.) the passage is one of perplexity. Aldus Manutius (ubi cit. p. 1202) tells us that according to Plutarch the ancients fought in the toga girded. Referring to the passage, which is in Coriolanus, I find it unmistakable, even allowing for the time in which he wrote, when the toga had fallen into consid- erable disuse, and for what he avows to have been his imperfect knowledge of the Roman tongue. Hy 5e tore rots "Potatoes eflos, ei? rafty AcaSeora/ntvois, KOI /xeAAoKTi TOIS flupeois avaXaii^aveiv, (cat Trept f la vvvtrSai TTJV rr]fifi>vov, ajia Kovs yevecrflai, it. r. A. (Oper. t. i. p. 217. ed Xyland. Francof.'in fol. 1599.) My limits, already greatly extended, do not permit me to examine this question further. I will but add, that if the toga were short and scanty (as it must have been with the poor), it could have been girded, and thus made literally succinct, as with the troops in Plutarch. See sub-note be- low, which appears to furnish, in the assertion of Rubenius, a conjectural solu- tion of the dimcultyi t Sagum and paludamenlum, frequently put reciprocally for the same outer- VIRGINIA 185 used constantly in opposition to war, the pursuits of war, and the habil- iments of war; of which it would be superfluous to cite instances ; and togati absolutely to express the Roman citizens, not soldiers, as in this very story in Livy, after the catastrophe and Virginius' appeal in the camp : " Immisti turbse militum togati." Ill, 50 (t. i. p. 293. Elsev.). As to the size of the toga, the variety in which needs hardly any ar- gument or citation of authorities, it is discussed by Aldus Minutius : (ut supra p. 1198.) The six ells assigned to its just measure, were of the ample cloak undoubtedly, and not of such as Cato wore. A Spanish mantle that is circular will contain seven yards of broadcloth. Cicognara makes the diameter of the semicircle about three times the statue of a man, and in the broadest part its width about a third.* That it reached to the heels, as Sigonius describes it, may be said to have been impossible, because impracticable, for ordinary wear. That error, like the description of its passing under the right arm, comes from the observation of statues. The material was wool, as indeed with all the garments, except of the priests, during the earlier days of the Eepublic. It was without color (pura) for the ordinary citizen; but in persons of rank there was an insertion or embroidery of purple called the clavus.^ garment, corresponded with the Greek clilamys, and like it were fastened with a clasp or brooch, usually on the right shoulder, leaving the arm on that side bare. But it might be shifted, that is, the mantle be clasped to the left, or the clasp brought to the middle. Its length varied, and it may be supposed to have been worn both, fuller and longer by men of rank, as in the paludamenta of the Emperors. Rubens (for it is the son of the great painter who is known as Rubenius) gives us the figure of the chlamys, very much resembling a wide-bottomed petticoat of the present mode. He considers the toga as not differing much hi form from this, the clilamys, except in magnitude and its cast. "Togam Romanam haud multum forma a chlamyde diversam fuisse, sed magnitudine solum et circumjectu, existimo." (De He Vestiaria : lib. II. c. 8. Graev. Thes. vi. 1018.) "Will this help to explain the doubtful phrase in Cicero, and the one still more perplexing in Plutarch ? * Storia della Scultura, I.e. 5: ( Venez. in fol. 1813. t. i. p. 81.) t Grasvius, in the preface of his 6th volume, shows, as he himself says 186 NOTES TO As to the right arm's beiug left free, of which I have just spoken, it is probable that this was only the mode adopted by orators. Were one to speak in any cloak whatever, he would naturally, I might almost say necessarily, free the right arm precisely as we see it often (not always) in statues. But that it was so worn on other occasions, and espe- cially in the streets, is not more probable than it would be were one, who had been in Spain, to assume that such was the mode of wearing the mantle there. The length alone would prohibit it, because when so worn it would touch the ground precisely as we see it in the Augusta Togato of Visconti, which nevertheless, and though in a rhetorical atti- tude, has the right shoulder covered by the mantle, the right arm being well freed by the depression and largeness of the fold.* Kubenius does, beyond the possibility of skepticism, that the clavi were stripes inwoven or embroidered in the toga. "Clavos fiiisse lineas ad instar fasciarum, oblongas quadratas, non rotunda frusta, aut pannos, capitibus clavorum similes, tarn certis et liquidis argumentis probare miM videtur Eubenius, ut ne Pyrrho quidem de hac re dubitare possit. . . . Tunica laticlavia dicitur Graecis /u.e avros ev rais 8&)5e/ca Se\rois cweypatfe, K. r. \. DION. HAL. Ant. jR. XI. xxviii. (Op. ed. cit. t. i. p. 676.) "Jam et processerat pars major anni, et duae tabulae legum ad prioris anni decem tabulas erant adjectae." Liv. Hist. III. c. 37. (t. I. p. 186, ed. cit.) Cicero speaks of this characteristic law in one of the defective chapters of his Republic (II. 37. NoVbe, ex recens. Ernest. Lips. 16. * "Itaque objicias licet, quam voles ssepc, palliatum fuisso, aliqua Uabuisse non Romani liominis insignia etc." Orat. pro Rabirio. The whole passage (p. 191, Cic. Op. Bipont. t. vi.) is worth reading, as illustrating the tenacity with which the Romans held to the wearing of the toga as characteristic of their people, even in the days of Cicero. 192 NOTES TO 1827) : a chapter which incidentally refers to the subject-story of thia Tragedy. "Ergo horum ex injustitia" [Decemviror. sc.] " subito exorta est maxima perturbatio et totius commutatio rei publicae : qui, duabus tabulis iniquarum legum additis, quibus, etiam qiuc disjunctis populis tribui solent connubia, luec illi ut ne plebei cum patribus essent, iuhuinamssima lege sanxerunt; quse postea plebeiscito Canuleio abrogata est : libidinoseque omni imperio et acerbe et avare populo praefuerunt." 13. P. 115. 'Tis Virginius 1 daughter! Num. Gods! we are too late.} The passage may read thus : T is Virginias' daughter ! Icil. Gods ! [springing forward in the di- rection of the found. Num. "We are too late, [following, etc. But it is more consistent with the character of Icilius, that he should not exclaim, but act at once, as I have made him in the text ; where, if preferred, Numit.'s part may read, " ! we are too late." 14. P. 118. Romans! freemen! brothers! Ye know me ; I have never spoken false. This is Virginius' daughter,' etc.] Between the second and third lines of this appeal, I had written two other verses. They may be restored, if judged advisable ; the passage reading thus : 1 have never spoken false. Look on this tender maid, half-dead with shame To be so branded. Has a slave such mien ? It is Virginius' daughter ; etc. 15. P. 119. Ifthou dare touch her, though it be the form, ] Or, more directly intelligible perhaps, thus : If thou dare touch her, though the form require it : (Marcu*, namely, putting forth his hand to touch the shoulder of VIRGINIA 193 Virginia, as the formality exacted on such occasions.) But what Marcus says, himself, presently, may render the meaning plain enough : let me wave the form. 16. P. 119. Now, tnj the manes, etc.] The actor may read :" Now by the ashes," etc. ; though the former word should be sufficiently familiar. 17. P. 120. By the same law, assert her to be free, And as her guardian, in the father's room, Demand the right to lead her where I will.} Or: By the same law, assert her unto freedom, And as her guardian claim the natural right, [or, claim prescriptive right.] She being born free, to take her whence she came. But the legal phrase, " assert her unto freedom," though more strictly Roman, would not be directly understood from the stage. The last line of the text : " Demand the right, etc.," may be redd, Claim natural right to reconduct her home. 18. P. 124. Arrest, etc.] The naturalness is marred in this and the preceding line metri grat. Omit for the Stage the last word in either verse. But in the second may be redd : " Seize him, bind, or slay !" 19. P. 125. But who are surety that the girl appear?} This verse, with the four in connection, directly before and after it, may be thus modified : Num. My son, that was not wise. Sec ! they have taken alarm. Marc. Be 't, great decemvir : I ask but justice. Meantime, that the girl May be forthcoming, let the friends find bail. Val. Here ! Lucius Valerius. Jlor. And Horatius, here ! 9 194 NOTES TO , And here ! People. > And here ! And all of us ! Which perhaps would be the better reading for the Stage, because it expresses more distinctly that requirement of the Roman law, which we have, among so many others, borrowed ; the word " bail" exciting at once in the minds of the audience a familiar image. Or again : See where the pander, etc. Marc. Be 't great decemvir 1 Meantime, let the friends Give surety that the maiden re-appear. Or: I ask but justice. Meantime, that the girl May be forthcoming, let the friends find bail. 20. P. 127. App. Watts no one more for justice ? Lictors, more. (Rises, and etc.] Otherwise, omitting this last verse, where Appiutf " Waits no one more for justice ?" might excite a smile : APPICS, looking from side to side for a moment, rises slowly, and as he turns, about to descend the tribunal, the Drop falls. 21 P. 128. 'T were lest not ask me. (carelessly.] Or : "I am not Pontiff, [coldly." But this would need more knowledge of the Roman religion than the audience in general can have. For " Think'st thou there be Furies ?" may be redd, " Believ'st thou in the Furies ?" 22. P. 130. I made tliee note the daughter's beauty ] " Virginia's beauty " is preferable : but from the Stage, the enunciation of " Vir- ginius," almost directly after, would be unpleasant, from the want of a sufficiently sensible difference between the sotinds. 23. P. 131. Torture his pride ! etc. etc. to end of Scene.] Or, omit- VIRGINIA 195 ting these five last Hues, make Marcus' Exit at " thrown away," and Livia's after " Thou shalt see," (two lines above.) This is more in the true spirit of tragedy (as I conceive it) ; in which any sarcasm, that shall excite even a smile in the audience, is misplaced. 24. P. 135. Whose tutelar-gods thy mother's girlhood knew] This line may be omitted ; and so, which is the original conception, it better suits the rapidity of Icilius' present manner. "Await with him thy sire," may read, " Await thy troubled sire." Otherwise again, the whole passage may read thus : And the black gore drip downwards ! No more sorrow ! Come, my Virginia, let us sock the hall. There, by thy uncle's tutelar gods, with him Await thy father, while Icilius goes To stir Home's ashes. "Why this sudden change ? Have the gods heard our anguish 1 Let tho shadow Now passing from my heart he better augury, And thy own grim forebodings pass away Like the night's dreams. 25. P. 136. Draws his hood, etc.] That is, of thepenula or trav- eling-cloak. This was a thick, rough, or even shaggy, woolen outer- garment or surtout, used as a protection against the weather. Hence often worn in the theatres, like the lacerna ; especially in winter. We read of it most frequently as a defence against rain. The pompous lines of Juvenal to that import (I. v. 79.) will readily be remembered: " fremeret sseva cum grandine vernus Jupiter, et multo stillaret paonula nimbo :" as also the witticism of Galba, when asked to lend his cloak of that description : " Non pluit, non est opus tibi ; si pluit, ipse utor."* * See OCT. FKKBAE. De Re, etc. Pars II. Lib. II., which is devoted to the subject, (p. 823 sqq. GKAEV. Thes. VI.) Penula. " Hoec ex lana alba, aut ex gausape fuit confecta, pluvios atque 196 NOTES TO 26. P. 139. The third day after that is long enough .'] This verse may be omitted. 27. P. 142. were alone Icttim' only sorrow :] " Icilius' heavy sorrow" if it be wished to avoid the apparent tautology, for such it is only at first sight : but the original reading, which is that of the text, is far preferable in every respect ; and it alone expresses my meaning. 28. P. 142. that they love their wives.] " that they love their homes [or, hearths.]" For the Stage, perhaps ; as the mass of an audience catches instantly and eagerly at the faintest shadow of the comic, (which, by the way, is, in acting, the saving grace of many a bad tragedy ;) and, as I said before, the least pleasantry I deem to be out of place here. itineris caussa, non toga;, ut lacernae, scd tunicse superimposita." CAB. SIOON. De Judiciis, III, 18. p. 819 Grtrv. vol. cit. Pxnula " habitus hibcrnus ac viatorius, et ad propulsandos imbres, cctcr- asque asperioris cceli injurias, peridoneus. Fiebant autem paenulze ex crassi- ori lana, non ex tenuiori prolixiorique ut togae." Jo. BAPT. DONII Diss. de Vlraq. Peenula ; in Griev. vol. cit. p. 1151. " Erat et alia paenula, capitio adjecto, dc qua Plinius 1. xxiv., ubi peenu- larum capitibus centunculum comparat : Ilali, inquit, centunculum vacant, rostralis foliis, ad simililudinem capitis pienularum, jacenlern in arvis. BART. BARTHOLIN. de Ptenula.p. 1172. Griev. etc. ..." Strictior est et ejus ora quso collum ambit, tarn laxe tamen patens ut caput exeri possit, opcriri aut involvi. Unde Pomponius in Penicea : Ptenulam in caput induce, ne te noscat :" (which is precisely the act of Virginius). Id., ib, p. 1172. ..." Pars vcntrem spectans aperta est, alioquin vcstimentum clausum et rotundum esset." 76. He adds a descriptive figure. "La penula era un mantcllo di grossa lana adorno di frangie, aperto sola- mente nella partc superiore per farvi passare la testa. Quello de' soldati avea il color rosso, quello de' cittadini bruno. Di dietro eravi un cappuccio, col quale coprivano il capo nc' tempi piovosi." LEVATI, ubi cit. VIRGINIA 197 29. P. 142. I seek to restore the tribunes. Appius said it.] This variety in the rjthm is used to give a sudden and brief rapidity to the enunciation. If the Actor prefer, it may be redd : " I would restore the tribunes," etc. SO. P. 142. Alas for me! their poiver suspended trials.] Or; "Trib- 3S ! Alas ! their power could put off trials." unes 31. P. 149. 't would cost me merely life.] Or, with an allusion to Virginia, " but my life." And for the last words of Valerius, to which Icilius makes reply, may be redd : " to keep back Spurius Oppius. Courage, Icilius ! when the sun goes down, Rome will be free :" which pro-indicates the time of the catastrophe. 32. P. 150. that shall make thee his, Senders thy sire the proudest in all Some.] " that confirms thee his, Will make thy sire, etc." 33. P. 151. All other shrines, were not her temple heref} "All other homes, were not her mansion here ?" 34. P. 152. Justice no more shall lend her snow-white pall To hood Oppression ] The dress of the Roman women consisted of the stole (stola), a sleeved garment, which corresponded to the tunic of the men, but descended to the feet,* aud the " pall" (palla), which was the Pallium of the Greeks, and, worn over the stole, as a mantle, corre- sponded to the toga of the men. Of its shape there is dispute, as in * " La tunica lunga con lunghe maniche, come vcdesi nella flglia di Niobe, 6 quella prccisamcntc che i romani poi cluamarono stola." CICOON. Sloria della Scull. I. c. 5.-p. 77 t. i. 198 NOTES TO regard to the form of the toga. Wiukelmann supposes it to have been round, and Ferrari to have been semicircular; but Cicognara main- tains that it was in cut a parallelogram.* That it was, or may have been, rectangular, any artist may ascertain for himself by trying a sheet, or better a light blanket, which will enable him to imitate easily the modes of wearing this dress as it is seen in statues. With a very natural action the pall was frequently drawn over the head, sometimes merely to the forehead, sometimes so as to conceal the features (as with Virginia in the entry to Act v. Sc. 3), whence the expression in the text ; which however may be redd from the Stage : " Justice no more stall lend her snow-white robe To hood Oppression." There is a fine line of Horace (Serm. I. ii. 99) which describes with a single touch both the stole and pall : " Ad talos stola demissa, et circumdaia palla." The toga was worn by women only under disreputable circum- stances, of which the Satire cited furnishes more than one illustration. On the color of the stola, see the note of Baxter and Zeunius on the 36th verse of the same Satire, (p. 299, ed. Lond. in 8, 1809.) It cannot be doubted that it varied at different times, and not only according to the rank but to the age of the wearer. A maiden of Virginia's youth, of the more respectable class of the plebeians, would hardly wear any- thing but white. See note 10, p. 106, Tav. xx. Antichitit, di Ercola.no. (fol. 1757.) Finally, on the Palla, consult Octav. Ferrar. : Analecta de It. V. c. 26. p. 1103 sq. in Grew. vol. cit. 35. P. 152. And Publius' own are fulgent with new hope.] "And Publius' quiet mien is full of hope." Sloria, oc. uli supra., p. 79, VIRGINIA 199 b. P. 1GO. in a mourning-cloak ] The Pallium (palla, " pall") described in note 34. 36. P. 161. J2ut, being taught in time Her falsehood with, etc.} " But, when certain proofs Taught me to know her falsehood with that man, Yon Claudius, plaintiif here, I flung her off, As I would fling a viper, (see ! she trembles !) Never having, etc." And above, for brought from taken Antium, " taken in the Volscian war." 37. P. 164. and honor now But little known, man trusts man's word no more ] Or, "map plights his word no more:" which is more accurate in construction, though less tragic (stern and nervous) in sound. 38. P. 100. Wherefore Wear ye else hidden arms?} "Else, Why wear ye hidden arms ?" 39. P. 167. Such the law Of great Valerius mates deserving death.} " And therefor May by the great Valerius' law be slain By any hand ; law natural and just." But the text has the advantage of brevity. For makes in the text, may be redd " made." But it is less forcible. 40. P. 167. There sits your Tarquin App. But thou stand 'st not Brutus.} Perhaps this play on the word, though bitter and stern on the part of the speaker, might cause a smile in some of the audience. It may read then : " But thou art not [or, art no] Brnhis." 200 NOTES TO VIRGINIA 41. P. 1G9. Virginius tJi^n had no part in the cheat ! Marcus and Livia, etc. App. Hut little, etc.] The first line may be omitted ; which restores the part to its original conception. And again, for the Stage, all three of the verses may be thrown out, as impeding the action. 42. P. 171. Weeps? For ye will not, etc.] It may be pointed, " Weeps ;" which allows the actor to give another tone to the expres- sion. I think the reading of the text better suits the character, although the energy, and fierceness even, of the exclamation, make the difference scarcely important. 43. P. 171. A fiction. Appius stoops not to say more.} From here to Lictors, make room to be omitted on the Stage. 44. P. 175. Lucius my Moved Receive my last Ireath . Father, I die pure.~\ Virginia's dying words might read thus : " Lucius my beloved ! T was at thy hand But it is fitter thus. Receive, etc." But Icilius is made to express himself too nearly in the same man- ner with regard to Appius : 'Tis better thus. ADDITION TO NOTE 4, ON THE FORM OF THE TOGA. P. 181. I should have added here an undernote to this effect : Any rectangular piece of cloth may form a square, a circular, or a semicircular cloak, ac- cording to Its amplitude, on which depends the number of Its gathers at the shoulders. The Spanish mantle owes its curve to this arrangement and nothing else. Take out the plaits and it Is quadrilateral. It would follow then, that, could we suppose the same condition obtained with the toga, that is, that it was gathered at the shoulders, the curvilinear sweep of the bottom edge would be the result, not of its cut, but of its disposition. But if cut, or more probably wo- ven, not drawn into shape, it must have made not the half of a circle but a narrower segment; for thus only could its widest part equal a third of its diameter. A cloth so fashioned I have essayed on a layfigure, and found it easy therewith to imitate the drapery of the Avtmitut. The right side envelops twice the form, passing in the first involution under the right arm, and finally over it at the shoulder : a hint that may be of service to the artist, as well as to the actor. The effect was superb. UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY A 000 029 982 6