MAR. You sad-fac'd men, people and sons of

Rome,

By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl
Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts,
O, let me teach you how to knit again
This scatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf,
These broken limbs again into one body.

SEN. Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself;
And she, whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to,
Like a forlorn and desperate cast-away,
Do shameful execution on herself.

But if my frosty signs and chaps of age,
Grave witnesses of true experience,

Demetrius and Chiron hanging up against the wall; their bodies in chairs in bloody linen." STEEVENS.

* Sen. Lest Rome &c.] This speech and the next, in the quarto 1611, are given to a Roman lord. In the folio they both belong to the Goth. I know not why they are separated. I believe the whole belongs to Marcus; who, when Lucius has gone through such a part of the narrative as concerns his own exile, claims his turn to speak again, and recommend Lucius to the empire.

STEEVENS.

I have followed the quarto, where the words Roman lord, [i. e. Senator,] are prefixed to this speech. The copy, however, reads-Let Rome &c. which I have no doubt was an error of the press for Lest. The editor of the folio finding the sentiment as exhibited in the quarto, in consequence of this error, not proper in the mouth of a Roman, for Roman lord substituted Goth. In correcting the errors of the quartos, the editor of the folio appears often to have only looked on the surface, and to have consequently made several injudicious emendations beside the present.

Mr. Capell, I find, has made the same emendation. The error here corrected has likewise happened in the quarto copies of Hamlet, Act I. sc. ii: "-let my extent to the players should more appear like entertainment than yours:". -instead of" Lest my extent," &c.

As this speech proceeds in an uniform tenor with the foregoing, the whole (as Mr. Steevens has observed,) probably belongs to Marcus. MALONE.

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

our ancestor,

When with his solemn tongue he did discourse,
To love-sick Dido's sad attending ear,
The story of that baleful burning night,
When subtle 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 commiseration:
Here is a captain, let him tell the tale;

:

Your hearts will throb and weep to hear him speak.

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 sister : For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded; Our father's tears despis'd; and basely cozen'd Of that true hand, that fought Rome's quarrel out, And sent her enemies unto the grave. Lastly, myself unkindly banished,

5

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;

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, past patience, Or more than any living man could bear. Now you have heard the truth, what say you,

Romans?

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,

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

"O thou foul thief, where hast thou stow'd my daughter? " Damn'd as thou art, thou hast inchanted her." In the play before us the same 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, cast us down,] i. e. We the poor remainder &c.

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

EMIL. 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 shall be so.

Rom. [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail; Rome's
royal emperor!

LUCIUS, &c. descend.

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

And hither hale that misbelieving Moor,
To be adjudg'd some direful slaughtering 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 :

• 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 surrounding 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 sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd face,1
The last true duties of thy noble son!

MAR. Tear for tear, and loving kiss for kiss,
Thy brother Marcus tenders on thy lips:
O, were the sum 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 grandsire lov'd thee well:
Many a time he danc'd thee on his knee,
Sung thee asleep, 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 :
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 grandsire, grandsire! 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.

1

- thy blood-stain'd face,] The old copies have-thy blood-slain face. Corrected in the fourth folio. MALONE. • Shed yet some small drops

Because kind nature doth require it so:] Thus, in Romeo

and Julict:

"fond nature bids us all lament-," STEEVENS.