1 Daugh, And then be sure to die.

Nen. It shall go hard else.

[Stabs herself. In all your stories, dare do this for her honour;" They are cowards, eat coals like compelled cats: Your great saint, Lucrece,

meet yonder,

Where few of these must come.
Nen. Gods take thee, lady! [Exit Nennius.
Bond. Bring up the swords, and poison.

Enter one with swords and a great cup.

2 Daugh. Oh, my fortune!

Bond. How, how?

Pet. By heaven,

I am in love! I would give an hundred pound

now

But to lie with this woman's behaviour. Oh, the

devil!

1 Daugh. Ye shall see my example: All your Rome,

If I were proud and loved ambition,

Bond. Here, wench;

Behold us, Romans!
Suet. Mercy yet.
Bond. No talking!

Do it, and nobly.

2 Daugh. Oh, do not frown, then.

1 Daugh. Do it, worthy sister;

Bond. Make haste.

1 Daugh. I will-could not entice to live, But two short hours, this frailty. Would ye learn How to die bravely, Romans, to fling off This case of flesh, lose all your cares for ever? Live, as we have done, well, and fear the gods; Hunt honour, and not nations, with your swords; Keep your minds humble, your devotions high; So shall ye learn the noblest part to die. [Dies. Bond. I come, wench.-To ye all, Fate's hangmen, you,

That ease the aged destinies, and cut

The threads of kingdoms as they draw them! here,

Here is a draught would ask no less than Cæsar To pledge it for the glory's sake!

Cur. Great lady!

Ye sweat for us in vain else: See him here,[Drinks. He's ours; and still our friend; laughs at your pities;

And we command him with as easy reins

2 Daugh. Oh, if I knew but whither!

1 Daugh. To the blessed;

Where we shall meet our father

Suet. Woman!

Bond. Talk not.

1 Daugh. Where nothing but true joy is

Poor vanquished Romans, with what matchless

tortures

Could I now rack ye! But I pity ye,
Desiring to die quiet: Nay, so much
I hate to prosecute my victory,
That I will give ye counsel ere I die:

To be of eminence.-Most worthy soldiers, Let me entreat your knowledge to inform me What noble body that is, which you bear With such a sad and ceremonious grief,

ties,

And to avoid our dangers, seek destructions;
Thus we awake to sorrows. Oh, thou woman,
Thou agent for adversities, what curses
This day belong to thy improvidence!
To Britain, by thy means, what sad millions
Of widows' weeping eyes! The strong man's va-
lour

Thou hast betrayed to fury, the child's fortune
To fear, and want of friends, whose pieties
Might wipe his mournings off, and build his sor-

rows

A house of rest by his blessed ancestors:
The virgins thou hast robbed of all their wishes,
Blasted their blowing hopes, turned their songs,
Their mirthful marriage-songs, to funerals;
The land thou hast left a wilderness of wretches.
The boy begins to stir; thy safety made,
'Would my soul were in Heaven!

Hengo..Oh, noble uncle,

Look out; I dreamed we were betrayed.

Car. No harm, boy; [A soft dead march within. 'Tis but thy emptiness that breeds these fancies Thou shalt have meat anon.

What is thy will, Caratach?

Cur. Set down the body, The body of the noblest of all Romans; As ye expect an offering at your graves From your friends' sorrows, set it down awhile, That with your griefs an enemy may mingle, (A noble enemy, that loves a soldier)

And lend a tear to virtue! Even your foes,
Your wild foes, as you called us, are yet stored
With fair affections, our hearts fresh, our spirits,
Though sometime stubborn, yet when virtue dies,
Soft and relenting as a virgin's prayers:
Oh, set it down!

Drus. Set down the body, soldiers.

Car. Thou hallowed relic, thou rich diamond, Cut with thine own dust; thou, for whose wide

fame

The world appears too narrow, man's all thoughts,
Had they all tongues, too silent: thus I bow
To thy most honoured ashes! Though an enemy,
Yet friend to all thy worths, sleep peaceably;*
Happiness crown thy soul, and in thy earth
Some laurel fix his seat, there grow and flourish,
And make thy grave an everlasting triumph!
Farewell all glorious wars, now thou art gone,
And honest arms, adieu! All noble battles,
Maintained in thirst of honour, not of blood,
Farewell for ever!

Hengo. Was this Roman, uncle,
So good a man?

Car. Thou never knewest thy father.
Hengo. He died before I was born.
Car. This worthy Roman

Was such another picce of endless honour,

Such a brave soul dwelt in him; their propor

tions

And faces were not much unlike, boy. Excellent nature!

See how it works into his eyes! mine own boy! Hengo. The multitudes of these men, and their fortunes,

Could never make me fear yet; one man's good

ness

Car. Oh, now thou pleasest me; weep still, my child,

As if thou sawest me dead! with such a flux
Or flood of sorrow; still thou pleasest me.
And, worthy soldiers, pray receive these pledges,
These hatchments of our griefs, and grace us so
much

To place them on his hearse. Now, if ye please,
Bear off the noble burden: raise his pile
High as Olympus, making heaven to wonder,
To see a star upon earth outshining theirs:
And ever-loved, ever-living be

Thy honoured and most sacred memory !

Drus. Thou hast done honestly, good Caratach;

And when thou diest, a thousand virtuous Romans
Shall sing thy soul to heaven. Now march on,
soldiers.
[Exeunt. A dead march.

Car. Now dry thine eyes, my boy.
Hengo. Are they all gone?

I could have wept this hour yet.

Car. Come, take cheer,

And raise thy spirit, child; if but this day

Thou canst bear out thy faintness, the night co

ming,

I'll fashion our escape.

Hengo. Pray fear not me;

Indeed I am very hearty.

Car. Be so still;

She set the sword unto her breast,
Great pity it was to see,
That three drops of her life-warm blood,
Run trickling down her knee.

Art thou there, bonny boy? And, in faith, how dost thou ?

Pet. Well, gramercy; how dost thou ? He has found me,

Scented me out; the shame the devil owed me, He has kept his day with. And what news, Junius?

Jun. It was an old tale ten thousand times told,
Of a young lady was turned into mould,
Her life it was lovely, her death it was bold.

Pet. A cruel rogue! now he has drawn pur
suit on me,

He hunts me like a devil. No more singing! Thou hast got a cold': Come, let us go drink some sack, boy.

Jun. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Pet. Why dost thou laugh?
What mare's nest hast thou found?
Jun. Ha, ha, ha!

I cannot laugh alone: Decius! Demetrius!
Curius! oh, my sides! ha, ha, ha, ha!
The strangest jest!

Pet. Prithee no more.

Jun. The admirablest fooling!

Pet. Thou art the prettiest fellow!
Jun. Sirs!

Pet. Why, Junius,

Prithee away, sweet Junius!

Jun. Let me sing then.

Pet. Whoa, here's a stir now! Sing a song
sixpence !

By heaven, if-prithee-pox on't, Junius!
Jun. I must either sing or laugh.

Pet. And what's your reason?

Jun. What's that to you?
Pet. And I must whistle.

Jun. Do so.

Oh, I hear them coming.

Pet. I have a little business.

of

Pet. Tom Puppy, Leave this way to abuse me: I have found you, But, for your mother's sake, I will forgive you. Your subtle understanding may discover,

As you think, some trim toy to make you merry,
Some straw to tickle you; but do not trust to it;
You are a young man, and may do well; be sober,
Carry yourself discreetly.

Enter DECIUS, Demetrius, and CURIUS.
Jun. Yes, forsooth.

Dem. How does the brave Petillius?

Jun. Monstrous merry.

We two were talking what a kind of thing

I was, when I was in love; what a strange mon

ster

For little boys and girls to wonder at:

How like a fool I looked!

Dec. So they do all,

Like great dull slavering fools.

Jun. Petillius saw too.

Pet. No more of this; it is scurvy; peace!
Jun. How nastily,

Indeed how beastly, all I did became me!
How I forgot to blow my nose! There he stands,
An honest and a wise man; if himself
(I dare avouch it boldly, for I know it)
Should find himself in love-

Suet. If thou be'st guilty,

thee!

The regiment return on Junius;

He well deserves it.

Pet. So!

Suet. Draw out three companies, (Yours, Decius, Junius, and thou, Petillius) And make up instantly to Caratach; He's in the wood before ye: We shall follow, After due ceremony done to the dead, The noble dead. Come, let's go burn the body. [Exeunt all but Petillius. Pet. The regiment given from me? disgraced openly?

In love too with a trifle to abuse me?
A merry world, a fine world! served seven years
To be an ass of both sides? sweet Petillius,
You have brought your hogs to a fine market!
you are wise, sir,

Your honourable brain-pan full of crotchets,
An understanding gentleman; your projects
Cast with assurance ever! Wouldst not thou now
Be banged about the pate, Petillius!
Answer to that, sweet soldier! surely, surely,
I think you would; pulled by the nose, kicked?
hang thee,

Thou art the arrantest rascal! Trust thy wisdom
With any thing of weight? the wind with feathers!
Out, you blind puppy! you command? you go-
vern?

Dig for a groat a-day, or serve a swine-herd,
Too noble for thy nature too!-I must up;
But what I shall do there, let time discover.

SCENE III.

[Exit.

Enter MACER and JUDAS, with meat and a bottle.

Macer. Hang it on the side of the rock, as though the Britons

Stole hither to relieve him: Who first ventures To fetch it off, is ours. I cannot see him.

To make a noble escape. I'll sit down by thee, And, when thou wakest, either get meat to save