Cannot induce you to attend my words,-
Speak, Rome's dear friend; [To LUCIUS.] as erst

our ancestor,

When with his folemn tongue he did discourse,
To love-fick Dido's sad attending ear,
The story of that baleful burning night,
When fubtle Greeks surpriz'd king Priam's Troy;
Tell us, what Sinon hath bewitch'd our ears,
Or who hath brought the fatal engine in,
That gives our Troy, our Rome, the civil wound.-
My heart is not compact of flint, nor steel;
Nor can I utter all our bitter grief,
But floods of tears will drown my oratory,
And break my very utterance; even i'the time
When it should move you to attend me most,
Lending your kind commiferation :
Here is a captain, let him tell the tale;
Your hearts will throb and weep to hear him fpeak.

Luc. Then, noble auditory, be it known to you,
That cursed Chiron and Demetrius
Were they that murdered our emperor's brother;
And they it were that ravished our fister :
For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded;
Our father's tears despis'd; and basely cozen'd 5
Of that true hand, that fought Rome's quarrel out,
And fent her enemies unto the grave.
Lastly, myself unkindly banished,

The gates shut on me, and turn'd weeping out,
To beg relief among Rome's enemies;
Who drown'd their enmity in my true tears,
And op'd their arms to embrace me as a friend :
And I am the turn'd-forth, be it known to you,
That have preserv'd her welfare in my blood;

5

and basely cozen'd-] i. e. and he basely cozened.

MALONE.

And from her bosom took the enemy's point,
Sheathing the steel in my advent'rous body.
Alas! you know, I am no vaunter, I;
My scars can witness, dumb although they are,
That my report is just, and full of truth.
But, soft; methinks, I do digress too much,
Citing my worthless praise: O, pardon me;
For when no friends are by, men praise themselves.

MAR. Now is my turn to speak; Behold this

child,

[Pointing to the Child in the arms of an Attendant. Of this was Tamora delivered; The issue of an irreligious Moor, Chief architect and plotter of these woes; The villain is alive in Titus' house, Damn'd as he is, to witness this is true. Now judge, what cause had Titus to revenge These wrongs, unspeakable, paft patience, Or more than any living man could bear.

Now you have heard the truth, what say you, Ro

mans?

Have we done aught amiss? Show us wherein,
And, from the place where you behold us now,
The poor remainder of Andronici

Will, hand in hand, all headlong cast us down,8

• Damn'd as he is,] The old copies read-And as he is. The emendation was made by Mr. Theobald. The fame expreffion (as he observed) is used in Othello :

"O thou foul thief, where haft thou stow'd my daughter? "Damn'd as thou art, thou hast inchanted her." In the play before us the fame epithet is applied to Aaron: "See justice done on Aaron, that damn'd Moor."

7

MALONE.

- what cause -) Old copies-what course. Corrected in the fourth folio. MALONE.

& The poor remainder of Andronici

Will, caft us down,] i. e. We the poor remainder &c

will cast us down. MALONE.

2

And on the ragged ftones beat forth our brains,
And make a mutual clofure of our house.
Speak, Romans, speak; and, if you say, we shall,
Lo, hand in hand, Lucius and I will fal.

ÆMIL. Come, come, thou reverend man of

Rome,

And bring our emperor gently in thy hand,
Lucius our emperor; for, well I know,
The common voice do cry, it fshall be fo.

ROM. [Several Speak.] Lucius, all hail ;9 Rome's

royal emperor!

LUCIUS, &c. defcend,

MAR. Go, go into old Titus' forrowful house;
[To an Attendant.

And hither hale that misbelieving Moor,
To be adjudg'd some direful flaughtering death,
As punishment for his most wicked life.

ROM. [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail; Rome's

gracious governor!

Luc. Thanks, gentle Romans; May I govern so, To heal Rome's harms, and wipe away her woe! But, gentle people, give me aim awhile,For nature puts me to a heavy task ;Stand all aloof;-but, uncle, draw you near, To shed obsequious tears upon this trunk :

9 Rom. Lucius, all hail; &c.] This line here, and the same words below, are given in the old copy by mistake to Marcus. It is manifest, as Mr. Steevens has observed, that they both belong to the furrounding concourse of Romans, who with one voice hail Lucius as their emperor. MALONE.

The same mistake is in the quarto 1600. TODD.

O, take this warm kiss on thy pale cold lips,

[Kisses TITUS. These forrowful drops upon thy blood-ftain'd face, The last true duties of thy noble fon!

MAR. Tear for tear, and loving kiss for kiss,
Thy brother Marcus tenders on thy lips:
O, were the fum of these that I should pay
Countless and infinite, yet would I pay them!

Luc. Come hither, boy; come, come, and learn

of us

To melt in showers: Thy grandfire lov'd thee well :
Many a time he danc'd thee on his knee,
Sung thee afleep, his loving breast thy pillow;
Many a matter hath he told to thee,
Meet, and agreeing with thine infancy;
In that respect then, like a loving child,
Shed yet some small drops from thy tender spring,
Because kind nature doth require it so: 2
Friends should associate friends in grief and woe :
Bid him farewell; commit him to the grave;
Do him that kindness, and take leave of him.

Bor. O grandfire, grandfire! even with all my

heart

'Would I were dead, so you did live again!O lord, I cannot speak to him for weeping; My tears will choke me, if I ope my mouth.

I

-thy blood-stain'd face,] The old copies have-thy

blood-lain face. Corrected in the fourth folio. MALONE. Shed yet fome small drops

Because kind nature doth require it fo :) Thus, in Romeo and Juliet :

fond nature bids us all lament." STEEVENS.

Enter Attendants, with AARON.

1 Rom. You fad Andronici, have done with woes; Give sentence on this execrable wretch, That hath been breeder of these dire events.

Luc. Set him breast-deep in earth, and famish

him;
There let him ftand, and rave and cry for food:
If any one relieves or pities him,
For the offence he dies. This is our doom:
Some stay, to fee him fasten'd in the earth.3

AAR. O, why should wrath be mute, and fury

dumb ?

I am no baby, I, that, with base prayers,
I should repent the evils I have done;
Ten thousand, worse than ever yet I did,
Would I perform, if I might have my will;
If one good deed in all my life I did,
I do repent it from my very foul.

Luc. Some loving friends convey the emperor

hence,

And give him burial in his father's grave :
My father, and Lavinia, shall forthwith
Be closed in our household's monument.
As for that heinous tiger, Tamora,
No funeral rite, nor man in mournful weeds,
No mournful bell shall ring her burial;
But throw her forth to beafts, and birds of prey :
Her life was beast-like, and devoid of pity;
And, being fo, shall have like want of pity.

3-to fee him fasten'd in the earth.] That justice and cookery may go hand in hand to the conclusion of this play, in Ravenfcroft's alteration of it, Aaron is at once racked and roasted on the stage. STEEVENS.